Byron Walton

Byron was born at home to parents, J.P. “Press” and Eliza Walton on March 25, 1931 in San Augustine County, Texas. He lived there with his four siblings and worked in the cotton fields on the farm until his high school graduation in May of 1947 at the age of 15. He was one of the lucky ones–at that time high school only went through the 11th grade.

After his graduation, his Aunt Hazel and Uncle Roger invited him to live with them in the Lake Jackson area and work at Dow Chemical to earn money to go to college. In December of ‘47 he had enough money to get started and enrolled at Sam Houston State Teacher’s college in January. After attending for a year, he was offered a job working at the college farm. He admitted it wasn’t always easy getting up at 5:30am to go milk the cows, but it sure did help him financially to complete his education. He worked there until he graduated in January of ‘57 and had very fond memories of his time at the farm. Byron graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture intending to teach Ag at the high school level. His plan after graduation though, was to enlist in the Air Force and because the Korean War was going on, Sam Houston allowed those enlisting in the military to leave school two weeks early without taking their finals. What a deal! After enlisting in the Air Force and completing his basic training, he began his training to be a radio operator.

On Christmas Eve in 1951 he was home on leave and he and a cousin decided to drive into San Augustine to see if there was anyone there they knew. After not seeing anyone, they were cutting across the courthouse parking lot and there he happened to run into Ruth Evelyn Rayburn, who he had not seen since high school. However, we believe that was all in God’s plan. They talked and he asked her on a date that night and she accepted. They went to eat and to a movie. When he took her home, the road from the gate to the house was very muddy and she wouldn’t let him drive her to the house. So, they walked through the mud and he helped her clean her shoes afterward. Word was the shoes belonged to one of her sisters and she was a little concerned how that sister would react. At this time Daddy was stationed in San Antonio and Ruth lived in Houston with her sister Edna and her husband Ralph. Every weekend Daddy had off he would hitchhike to Houston. He always rode the bus home, because he wanted to make sure he got back to the base on time. In May of 1952, Daddy was sent to Nome, Alaska. Being the young and handsome man that he was, he was concerned because in Alaska the men received double portions of rations. He did not want to get fat, so he made sure he played on one of the base basketball teams and also played baseball in the summer. He was quite a good player and had the nickname “Skin”. One game they had taken him out for a bit and then the team started to get behind. One lone voice rose above the crowd shouting, “Put in skin!” It was also pretty interesting that since they were so far away from anywhere, the high school basketball team played the base teams for their competition. While he was gone Ruth had promised she would write to him everyday. He wasn’t sure she could do that, but sure enough she did. So he said to himself, if she can write to me every day, then I can write to her everyday

too, and he did. He was in Alaska for one year and returned home on June 1, 1953 and Byron and Ruth were married on June 6, of that year. They moved several times in the next year as the Air Force sent him to different schools, and then they moved to Riverside, CA for his final year in the service. Daddy was honorably discharged in January of 1955 with a National Defense Service Medal and a Good Conduct Medal (of course!).

When they returned to Texas, they were expecting their first child. Daddy quickly went to work for Eastern States Petroleum. He thought it would be a good idea to go to work for a small company and “grow up” with them, but God had another plan. After working there for a few weeks, he found out he would be without a job as soon as the construction work was complete. On February 14, 1955 he went to work for Shell Chemical Company, where he started out at the lab in Pasadena, Texas and he went back to school to pick up some science classes that would give him a better understanding of the job. He didn’t reach his goal of getting his masters, but he had a scientific mind and now had the knowledge to do his job in an exceptional manner. In June of that year, their first daughter was born, Janice Sue Walton. Three and one-half years later, in January of ‘59 along came baby girl number 2, Pamela Jean Walton. Now, with two special girls, their family was complete. But the next adventure was just around the corner.

The following January of 1960, Shell transferred the family to Union, New Jersey, where Daddy worked in a lab. In several months they moved him to an office in New York City and began grooming him for a sales job. While we lived up there we found a little Southern Baptist Church about 20 minutes from our home. It was in this church where Daddy and Mother started working with older high school students. We met several families there and stayed in contact with them over all these years. After living in New Jersey for 18 months, Shell transferred us again. We moved from the cold northeast to sunny Southern California. Daddy worked in Downey and we lived in Whittier. This is where he started his sales career with Shell. Daddy and Mother loved living in Southern California. It was a long way from Texas, but they had found a great church, Greenleaf Ave. Baptist, and made many lifelong friends while living there. While we were there we became friends with a family that had two girls the same age as Jan and Pam. They were from Arkansas and a long way from their family too. We spent lots of time together and one special memory we have with them is when they took us on our first camping trip. Their tent was large enough for all of us. That is how the Waltons became campers! After three and one-half years in California, Shell moved them again. This time back to Texas.

Daddy’s selling territory was much larger than it was in California and for the next 30 years he traveled most every week. Leaving on Monday morning and coming home on Friday. It was a very hard transition and for a while there were lots of tears, but we got through it. However, Daddy always had time for family. He never missed a football halftime performance for Jan the three years she was in the drill team and he made every piano recital for Jan and Pam. One of Pam’s special memories is when Daddy would return home on Friday night after being gone all week, and he would stay up and watch the late show with her. On Saturday morning Daddy would get up early and prepare his Sunday School lesson, Mother would fix a nice breakfast about 10:30 and then Daddy would head out to the yard to work. That was his stress relief! The yard was mowed and edged to perfection and his hanging baskets were beautiful! One of our Saturday night memories was Daddy would bring a dining room chair into the den and polish his shoes for the week. During these years he had several responsibilities at church. Beside teaching Sunday School, he was Training Union Director for many years and served as a deacon and also enjoyed playing on the church basketball team. We also took a two week vacation every year. Most of the time we camped and started visiting National and State Parks, but Colorado was our favorite place. As the years passed, Jan and then Pam got married and before you knew it there were five grandsons. Boy how he enjoyed them especially after they grew into the toddler stage. By this time Daddy and Mother had season tickets to the Texas Longhorns and they would take the boys one at a time to a game.

Also during this time his career continued to move upward. He worked hard and it showed. His customers appreciated all he did to make sure the product did what it was supposed to and if there was a problem, he worked until he found the answer. There were several times on vacation he would be at a pay phone for an hour or so to fix a problem. In 1988 and 1989 he was named the Sales Executive of the Year of the Resins Coastal and in 1990 he was named a Distinguished Olympian. Each year he won, he and Mother would be wined and dined for a week by Shell executives. It was a great honor and very deserved.

On August 1, 1991 Byron retired after 36 years of service. He decided to retire early because of Mother’s illness. This allowed them to do a little traveling which had always been a dream of theirs and to visit the grands a little more often. On June 6, 1993 they celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. They had a wonderful marriage sharing a great love for each other, and their girls. Sadly it ended sooner than they would have liked and Mother died in September of 1993.

The following February, Daddy decided to go to the Holy Land with a group from Sagemont Church. This was a trip he had always wanted to experience and unknown to him God was again working in his life in a special way. While on this trip he met Rose Marie White. They dated that spring and summer and married in August 1994. Her family embraced Byron and he them.They enjoyed traveling and were active serving the Lord in their church in numerous ways. Byron and Rose Marie enjoyed 24 happy and love filled years together. Rose Marie passed in August of 2018 and once again Daddy was living by himself. He was still able to attend church, but other than that didn’t get out often.

After 5 years, Jan and Pam convinced him to move to Lubbock to be near Jan and he moved into an Independent Senior Community. It was a hard transition at first, but God was faithful and saw him through this time. He grew to be content in his new place and living close to family. On Wednesday, March 25, 2026 we celebrated his 95th birthday. Pam flew in on Friday and we had a good visit and he was so glad to see her. Saturday, he spent the day at our house and Lamar and his family came over to spend some time with us. He was also able to face time or talk to the other four grandchildren. It was a fun day! Sunday, we joined him for lunch and visited with him for several hours. On Monday morning, sometime before seven, the unexpected happened, God called his name and he moved from this earthly home to his glorious new home in heaven. What a great reunion he had!

He could then say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

2 Timothy 4:7-8

These family members passed before Byron. HIs parents J.P. and Eliza Walton, his 1st wife Ruth Walton, his 2nd wife Rose Marie Walton, his sister-in-law Shirley Walton, his brother Donald Walton, and his sister Mary Nell Willis

These family members remain and will miss him greatly. His brother Hubert Walton and Diana, his sister Gail Husband, sister-in-law Rosemary Rayburn, his daughters, Jan Kello and her husband, Doug and Pam Willmann; Grandchildren: Lamar Kello and his wife Lauren, Scott Kello and his wife Sadee, Jeffrey Kello and his wife Heather, Capt. William Taylor Willmann USAF, and Byron Travis Willmann and his wife Darcie. Great-grandchildren: Lainee, Emree, Brooks, Easton, Cooper, Maverick, Fynlee, Londyn, Rowan, Owen and many nieces and nephews. Rose Marie had a large family whom Byron loved and they loved him in return. Daughters: Linda and her husband Rod Hovey, Debbie and her husband Dwyatt Gentry, Nancy and her husband Richard Grasshoff and one son, Bryan Lynn White and his wife Jennifer, along with nine grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.

So many lives touched by the life of one man!