Memorials › Dean Henson Walker

Dean Henson Walker

5 Oct 1916 – 23 Apr 2003

Birth5 Oct 1916
Death23 Apr 2003
CemeteryPleasant Grove City Cemetery
Pleasant Grove , Utah County , Utah , USA
Added bySRBentz on 12 Nov 2009
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44259289

Bio

Son of Delbert Walker and Cynthia Elizabeth Park Husband of Ruth Annabelle Walters married on 25 April 1943 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky I was born October 5, 1916, in Pleasant Grove, Utah. My twin brother, Darrell, and I were the twelfth and thirteenth in a family of eight boys and five girls. I was born in the house that my father and mother built the first year they were married, as were all of my brothers and sisters. I attended school from the first grade through the twelfth in Pleasant Grove, graduating from high school in 1935. I participated in all of the school's athletic programs and was student body president. My father was a farmer and worked very hard to support such a large family. I worked with my father from the time I was able to work at all until he died in 1934. Our mother continued to support us in school and sent me on a mission in 1935. We all attended church in the Pleasant Grove First Ward. I advanced regularly through the offices of the Priesthood and was called on a mission to the Central States Mission. The two years in the mission field were, of course, two of the most enjoyable years of my life. I will never be able to repay my mother, twin brother, and the rest of the family for making it possible for me to fulfill a mission. I returned in 1937 and worked around home for one year; then went to Salt Lake City and enrolled in the L.D.S. Business College. After a year of schooling, I went to California to work. I worked in Los Angeles until Sept 1940, at which time I returned to school. This time I enrolled at the Arizona State Teachers College in Flagstaff, Arizona. I returned home in December and a few days after my return, my mother died. This was a very great loss to me. All my brothers and sisters were married by then and I had no place to call home. After Mother's death, I returned to school but was drafted into the Army in Feb. 1941. I was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. We were to take one year of training and be released. Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7 1941 prevented this, and I was in the Army until 1946. I served in the 53rd Field Artillery of the Sixth Infantry Division and with the First Armored Division. While at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, I was invited to Monett, Missouri to spend a weekend with an army buddy. This weekend I met the very special girl who became my wife, Ruth Walters. A year and a half after meeting, we were married in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. We were married by a Baptist minister whose name was "Walker". At his time I baptized Ruth a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Two months before I had received a commission at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. Then six weeks after our marriage, I was shipped to combat in North Africa. During the war, I fought in Africa, Sicily, and Italy. I was a Platoon and Company Commander and was wounded three times for which I received a Purple Heart and three Oak Leaf Clusters. I also received the Bronze and Silver Star Medals. I returned to the U.S. in October 1944, spent some eighteen months in Army Hospitals, and retired from the Army in May 1946. After my return, Ruth and I lived in Indiana and then California. When I was released we took a job with Ralph Harmon in Arizona. I managed a grocery store in Winslow; and then a shopping center at Davis Dam, Arizona. Before going to California, Ruth and I had been married on April 2, 1945, in the Salt Lake Temple. While at David Dam we were both very active in the Church. Ruth was in the Relief Society Presidency and I was the branch president. On July 30, 1946, our first very lovely daughter, Ruth Ardeane, was born. She taught us plenty. We stayed in Arizona for two years; then returned to Utah where we bought a home in Provo. For a year and a half, I worked as Chief Timekeeper for Walsh Construction Co. at the Geneva Steel Plant. During this time, on Dec. 3, 1948, our second very lovely daughter, Rebecca Ann was born. She taught us even more. In the fall of 1949, I decided to go back to school. For the next three years, I attended Brigham Young University, summers and all, graduating in 1952 with a B.S. in Sociology. While in school December 6, 1950, our third very lovely daughter Cherly Onene was born and she is still teaching us plenty. We are very proud of and very happy with our three extra special daughters; they are just like their mother. I have taught school for a year and worked for the U.S. Steel Field Exploration Division where I am employed at the present. We have been blessed with good and enjoyable work. Since our return to Utah, we have remained active in the Church. Ruth has taught Primary, been in Relief Society, and is now serving her 9th year as secretary of the ward YWMIA. I have been Supt. of YMMIA, Twelfth Ward Clerk, Stake Senior Aaronic Com. and am now serving my sixth year in the Ward Bishopric. The girls are all three active and enjoying their religious training. Ruth and I both are working with the Juvenile Court Advisory Council in our "leisure time". (At the present, in April 1963- Dean is a supervisor at the BYU Bookstore). By Dean Henson Walker

Photos

Family

Parents

Spouse

Siblings

Children

Export GEDCOM

This person only · Entire connected family