Memorials › Frank K. Walker

Frank K. Walker

12 Apr 1907 – 6 Sep 1978

Birth12 Apr 1907
Death6 Sep 1978
CemeteryPleasant Grove City Cemetery
Pleasant Grove , Utah County , Utah , USA
Added bySRBentz on 14 Oct 2009
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76920

Bio

Frank K. Walker was born in Pleasant Grove, Utah, on April 12, 1907, next to the youngest child of ten, the son of William Henson and Sarah Ellen Christiansen Walker. His childhood and youth were spent in Pleasant Grove where he attended an elementary and high school. When in grade school many mornings walking, he would drive the cows to the pasture west of the ballpark, then walk back up to school. He liked to play ball at recess. He had many many friends. Some of his teachers in grade school were: Viola West, Lurena Cooper, Ernest Rasmussen, George Larsen, and Bessie Newman. As the family lived on the farm he learned early to work. They always had many acres of beets to thin. Each fall Frank helped his father get wood from the canyon and at fruit time he went with his father to market. It took three days by wagon. He enjoyed with his family going in the wagon or buggy on fishing trips. He liked to hunt, but most of all he liked to ride his horse and play ball. He played basketball and was on the track team in high school; played baseball for the town team and Farm Bureau League. He was on the Second Ward M-Men Basketball team that won the division championship four consecutive years. When Frank was sixteen he was burned by blasting powder. The burns were so serious that the doctors said even if he lived he would lose his sight, but his eyes healed perfectly. He has only scars on his hands, face, and body to show for the accident. At the age of 18, he worked on the Orem railroad and when 20 worked for the Forest Service, in American Fork Canyon, many times riding his horse to the South Fork Ranger station. On Nov. 17, 1930, at the age of 23, he married Elda Gillman. Their first home was with Chastina Holman Walker in Pleasant Grove. They have 3 children. Frank worked for Elda's father, James William Gillman, of Orem. In the spring of 1932, they moved into two rooms in his parents' home. He was still working for Elda's father, riding his horse to and from work most of the time. In 1933 there was very little work on the farms, because of the drought that year. Like many others, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) for nearly a year. In 1934 They bought their first car, an Old Buick. they called it the "Puddle Jumper" and it surely had the power. In December of 1934, they moved because Reed was getting married in January and was going to live in the two rooms and help with his father on the farm. In the spring of 1935, they moved to Orem to the Clyde Gillman farm at his request, but several months later, Elda's father asked them to live in the home on the Orchard and help oversee the work there. It was a short distance from Clyde's place so Frank continued to farm Clyde's. They had many good times while living there. The children called it the old place. It was next to the hills and they loved to climb. They soon learned the difference between a dog and a coyote. There were many times when the coyotes took their pet puppies away; and then brought them back at night for the mother-dog to feed them. The family had many good times sleigh-riding and many came to enjoy the fun with them. It wasn't unusual in the winter to have elk in the front yard early in the morning. When the snow was melted and the mud was knee-deep, the old Buick took them through it- that is how it got the name of the "Puddle Jumper". Easter was a happy time for the children because many friends came up there with lunches on Saturday. They say a dog is a "man's best friend". Their two dogs were certainly friends to their children. They always watched and protected them. In 1940 Frank's father gave him 5 acres of ground. That fall they started to build and in August of 1941, they moved into the basement, later finishing the upstairs. They appreciated their home because they did so much toward the construction of it. Often after they moved the children wanted to go back to the old place. As a family, they had many enjoyable times and trips together. For many years Frank worked in construction as a s steel worker on many jobs. We worked all through the construction of the Geneva Steel Plant, for Carl B. Warren and Co., helped build several school houses, the Timpanogos Stake House, the new Timpanogos Stake Seminary Building, the Vets hospital and other buildings in Salt Lake, Craig, Colorado and Evanston, Wyoming. In that time he had his ankle broken and his eyes badly burned; for the second time again he was lucky to have his sight. he had never been sick but this started him downhill and he quit in 1955 and went to work for the Alpine School District as Custodian of the Grove Crest School near his home. In Windsor Ward in Orem, Frank coached and played softball for Orem and coached M-Men Basketball. In Pleasant Grove Second Ward for several years he also played and coached softball. Church positions besides Athletics were: ward teacher, a teacher in Mutual, Counselor in Sunday School, superintendent of Sunday School, Stake Missionary, Ward Chairman of old folks, Ward Clerk, and Seventy. Frank & Elda enjoy improving their home and the grounds around it. He worked at the Grove Crest School where he enjoyed the association of the children. Grandchildren are a constant source of pleasure to them.

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