Joseph James Walker

Dr. Joseph James Walker of Cumming, Georgia, passed away on June 7, 2023. Born to the late Joseph Paul Walker and Rita Elizabeth (Howe) on June 30, 1937, in Oak Park, Illinois, Joe had a distinguished career in education and was a lifelong public servant. A veteran of the Army Reserves, after finishing his bachelor's degree at DePaul University, he became an elementary school teacher, quickly rising to become an elementary school principal. While finishing his graduate studies at Loyola University of Chicago, he became an Assistant Director of the Illinois State Gifted Program and remained an innovator in gifted education throughout his entire career. He earned his doctorate in 1972 and became a consultant, author, noted speaker, and professor at the University of Georgia and Georgia State University where he was nationally recognized in his field. During his tenure at Georgia State University, he founded groundbreaking programs including Saturday School and Bounty, benefitting gifted students in Atlanta.

He met his beloved wife Sharon Walker (nee Shields) in a graduate school counseling class where they bonded over a shared love of Peanuts characters, especially Lucy and her psychiatric help - available for only 5C/. They married in 1972 and their daughter, Therese, was born in 1973.

A true Chicagoan at heart, Joe was a great storyteller and loved sharing tales of the old neighborhood where his loving family nurtured his sense of humor and Irish-Czech sensibleness. His wife and daughter are certain he has already asked Saint Peter about any discounts or two-fers available in heaven.

Joe was a wonderful artist - constantly drawing and creating illustrations for his family. Many featured critters from the backyard. The birds, squirrels, and rabbits he loved feeding were marvelously and irreverently anthropomorphized. He had a great respect and appreciation for animals and the natural world. And in earlier days, he relished walking Budweiser, the family dog.

His wonderful and wicked sense of humor, both abstract and observational, kept his family in stiches throughout the years. From the time he was a small boy, Joe loved westerns and Gene Autry was a particular favorite. Along with cowboy Gene, he had an affinity for the two famous ducks - Donald and Daffy, Laurel and Hardy, Sinatra, and Dean Martin.

Above all, Joe was a kind, gentle, and generous man. He was an extraordinary husband and father who was and will always be loved wholeheartedly by his family.

Joe is survived by his wife Sharon and daughter Therese (Tracy), his nieces and nephews Pamela Hanke (David), Catherine Bourque (Brian), and James Miervaldis, and grandnieces and grandnephew Amber, Thea, Aubrey, and Max.

A memorial mass will be held on June 19th, 2023 at 10:30am at St. Benedict Catholic Church.

In lieu of flowers please donate to The Atlanta Humane Society. https://atlantahumane.org/