Donald Stuart Walker

A poem by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning… to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth and spoke of the following date with tears, but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time they spent alive on earth and now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own, the cars… the house… the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard; are there things you’d like to change? For you never know how much time is left that still can be rearranged.

To be less quick to anger and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile… remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read, with your life’s actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you lived your dash?

Don's dash was filled with love for others, giving his time and his resources, serving others all the way to the very end and making friends all along the way.

Don was born in Salem, Oregon on April 2, 1930 to Juanita Elenor Ward and Harvey Stuart Walker. He also had an older brother, Ray. He grew up there and graduated from North Salem High School in 1948 when he entered the Navy.

He worked as a military radio operator and repairman. Don however was not assigned to any specific ship but instead moved around to where he was needed sometimes zip lining across the water from one ship to another. On board he spent most of his time in the operations center. Sometimes the job brought him close to danger. Once when he had just transferred to another ship, not 20 minutes passed when the ship he had left was blown up and sank. He lost many friends that day. Don told a story once that he was assigned to work in a radio tower near the Mexican border. His job was to watch for refugees coming across the border and report them to authorities. Often times he would see them coming and bring cold water down to sit with them and let them rest and be refreshed. He would chat with them and then show them which direction to go. After a while to would go back up to his post and report it to the authorities since that was his responsibility.

After the Navy, he worked as a TV repairman replacing the tubes in the back of the TVs. Eventually, as technology progressed and they no longer used tubes he had to move on to other work. He worked at stores as a clerk. At Safeway one year there was a Columbus Day storm that blew in the window he was working next to just minutes after being called to the back for something. He worked at the Midway Market and Deli in Marysville for several years. He also did odd jobs for extra money such as mowing lawns for his manager. One time at work when things were not going his way, he was about to let out a string of swear words but he stopped himself when two nuns entered the store. Instead of swearing, he exclaimed "Oh... words worse than darn". People often heard him say that phrase so he would not swear in front of them.

In 1954, he married his first wife, Sharon. They worked at a roller skating rink together. They had two children Pam and Leslie. They also had three grandchildren. Apparently Don was not a very good cook. When it was his turn to cook, Pam said they ate a lot of burnt hamburgers. He also loved giant bowls of ice cream (mint chocolate chip), peanut butter and onion sandwiches, and frozen waffles. Don spent some time working on a crab boat with his brother Ray helping to fix things and performing other deckhand duties.

Don and Sharon became friends with their backyard neighbors Eric and Edna Henschell. Their kids played together and they spent a lot of time together. Eventually, Don ended up moving to Washington after Eric passed away and they were married in 1979. Edna's son Danny kept asking Don to come visit. He soon called him Pop Walker.

Don stepped into a new family complete with grandchildren from Edna's daughter Nancy (Shane, Sonja, and Josh with Chris to follow). In 1991 the great grandchildren began to arrive (12 in all). 2013 brought the great great grandchildren (6 so far). He taught Shane things over the years such as how to build a barn shaped garage, or how to be thrifty by collecting poor mans firewood (scrap wood) from job sites and cutting it with a table saw after pulling out all the nails and collecting them in a coffee can to use on a future project.

In his spare time, Don enjoyed watching programs for DIY projects, trains, and travel. He was a tinkerer and a collector. As a younger man, he had a train set that took up an entire room complete with buildings, mountains and tunnels. He was always starting projects in the garage and fixing small things around the house. He even built the garage. Don and Edna traveled quite a bit until Edna's health declined. They would travel to Canada to visit her family or to Oregon and California to visit his family always taking advantage of their lifetime membership to 1000 Trails and dropping in on people unannounced declaring he was in the neighborhood. Don had a strong interest in genealogy and every time they traveled, he would seek out county record buildings, libraries and cemeteries. He loved taking pictures of family and flowers. He collected quarters and other coins.

Don could strike up a conversation everywhere he went. One of his favorite things was to find corny jokes and print them out. He would then go about his daily errands and an unsuspecting cashier at the store, pharmacy, restaurant, or wherever else he found himself would be handed one of these jokes. He would then watch their face as it was read so he could see their reaction. He lived to see people smile and laugh. He especially loved the one about a man arrested for driving with a six pack of beer but wasn't convicted because they couldn't make a case. Everyone who knew him would say they loved his personality, sense of humor, and how sweet of a man he was.

He also enjoyed sneaking a little extra money into someone’s pocket, purse or into a care package (sort of like the opposite of a pickpocket). He would always leave change in the bowl at stores so that others may benefit from it. When he went out to dinner with family, it became a competition to see who could pay the bill first. Shane has noticed that since Don has been gone, he has not gotten any anonymous donations in his collection box in the bathroom at his store, Arlington Pickers.

In 2009 at 79 years young, he got his first cell phone (a flip phone). A few years later, He told Shane that he was ready for an I phone. It was so cute because he had pockets made for all of his jeans so his iPhone 7 would fit in them. He only used the phone for taking pictures and occasional phone calls. He hadn’t learned how to text. He washed it a few times and shattered the screen a few times. Shane didn’t have the heart to tell him how much the insurance cost.

Don spent a life dedicated to caring for others. He and Edna took in Sam when his mother could no longer care for him and made him a permanent part of the family. He helped anyone that needed it providing transportation, shopping trips and companionship. If Shane’s truck broke down in the middle of the night on his paper routes, Don would answer the phone and go rescue him. He never asked for anything in return except for time, patience and understanding. He cared for Edna and Danny in their last stages of life and he cared for and watched Sam right up until the very end. He was active in Special Olympics, supporting Danny, Sam and other athletes in bowling, swimming, basketball, and track and field.

When Don made it to heaven, he probably made rounds with everyone that went before him and is still catching up and telling jokes and eating ice cream. Thank you, Don, for giving us your time, patience and understanding.