H. LaMar Walker

H. LAMAR WALKER H. LaMar Walker, 97 and longtime resident of Bartlesville, died Wednesday in Norman, OK. Funeral Services for Mr. Walker will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday September 8, 2012, in the Stumpff Funeral Home Chapel in Bartlesville with Mr. Daryl Hayes of the Adams Blvd. Church of Christ officiating. Interment will be in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Bartlesville, under the direction of the Stumpff Funeral Home & Crematory. Memorial contributions may be made in his name to the Hope Harbor Children’s Home, PO Box 1047 Claremore, OK 74018. Mr. Walker, the only child of Jesse Allen Walker and Julia Alberta (Woody) Walker, was born on a ranch in Hansford County, Texas, on May 16, 1915. The family moved to Texhoma, OK, in 1918 where they lived until he completed high school in 1933, at the time of the great economic depression. He worked for the WPA building roads, and later rode freight trains through Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon where he picked peaches and apples and dug potatoes. He then lived with his brother in Long Beach, CA, and sold Larkin products and Electrolux vacuum cleaners door to door, worked in an antique shop cleaning old paint from antique furniture, worked for a contractor building a concrete block house, and finished his first year of college at Long Beach Junior College. He returned to Oklahoma and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Panhandle A & M College, now Panhandle University, at Goodwell, OK, graduating in 1938. Immediately upon graduation, he went to work for Phillips Petroleum Company, now ConocoPhillips. On August 20, 1943, he was united in marriage with Helen Elizabeth Gainey at Gruver, Texas. They had recently celebrated 69 years of marriage. LaMar enjoyed 40 years with Phillips, first in Borger, TX, and then beginning in 1955 in Bartlesville, OK, advancing from Junior Engineer to Chief Engineer of Process Separations. He retired in 1981 and continued to live in Bartlesville. He was a member of the Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers, the Bartlesville Engineering Club, and was a Registered Engineer in the State of Oklahoma. He was issued 10 letters of patent from the U.S. Patent Office pertaining to process separations. Upon his retirement, he and his wife enjoyed several trips overseas, as well as traveling over much of the USA in their motor home. He was a great fixit man and could fix or repair anything. He enjoyed woodworking and carving, square dancing, and participated in the activities of the Phillips Gold Club, as well as being active in the Jane Phillips PTA. He was a member of the Adams Blvd. Church of Christ while in Bartlesville and the Alameda Church of Christ in Norman. LaMar was preceded in death by his father, mother, two half brothers, and by several beloved nieces and nephews. He is survived by his wife, Helen (Gainey) Walker of the home, Norman, OK, by three daughters, Linda “Sunny” Walker of Aurora, CO, Pat “Trish” Walker, of Norman, OK, and Katy Givens and husband Jimmy also of Norman, by a son Allen Walker and his wife Jamie of Tarpon Springs, Florida, by seven grandchildren, Teresa and Rachel Jones, both of Aurora, CO, Whitney Walker of Tarpon Springs, FL, Lauren Walker of New York City, NY, Wesley Walker of Tarpon Springs, FL, Clint Givens and wife Jessica of Limestone, ME, and John Givens of Norman, OK, and by two great-grandchildren, Heaven Jones of Aurora, CO, and Carter Mosely of Tarpon Springs, FL, as well as several great-nieces and nephews in Texas, Colorado, and California. PDF Printable Version

H. LaMar Walker

May 16, 1915 - September 5, 2012