Gene Walker

Gene Walker, beloved father, brother and husband, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009 at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane, Wash.

He was picking huckleberries a week earlier when he suffered a stroke.

He will be greatly missed by all!

Gene was born and grew up in Winchester, Idaho.

 After graduating from Winchester High School in 1947,

Gene worked at Craig Mountain Lumber Company there.

He married Berna Jean Zillner in 1949, and they had five kids while living in Winchester. He moved his family to Priest River, Idaho, in 1965 after the Winchester sawmill burned to the ground. He worked at Louisiana Pacific lumber mill in Priest River as a saw filer, retiring from there in 1994.

He divorced in 1982, and remarried later to Judy Spaeth.

After retirement he worked as a volunteer with Snake River Outfitters and also volunteered for many years at Kirkwood, Cache Creek, and Pittsburg Admin site welcoming guests and sharing his vast knowledge of the canyon and Idaho history.

He had an extensive cartridge collection and attended many gun and cartridge shows.

He was an avid outdoorsman, and hunted and fished his entire life. He hunted last fall and fished this spring, and was picking huckleberries the day of his stroke.

He was especially proud of the moose he got in 2003.

He loved carpentry and building things, and was always ready to give a helping hand to\ anyone who needed it. He had a huge interest in genealogy, and followed his family roots back to before they landed in America.

He was a great storyteller, and loved telling stories of his life and adventures.

Gene just received his 50-year Masonic pin.

Gene is survived by his wife, Judy of 27 years; his sister, Virginia Grunke; a brother-in-law, Don Spindler; his children, Bernard (Fran) Walker, Carol Tousley, Judy (Mike) Dobler and Vicky (Carl) Wright, and step-children Laurie Spaeth, Kathy (Leon) Munyan, Louise (Joe) Harless and Linda (George) Dietrich. Survivors also include 17 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. ]

Gene was preceded in death by his mother, Violet; father, Jasper; sisters, Evelyn and Lois, and a daughter, Joy.

He is interred at Golden Ridge Cemetery at Winchester.