Obituary

World War II veteran Robert Bruce Walker, 94, of Plain?view passed away Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010, at Runningwater Draw Care Center in Olton. Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010, in Plainview Cemetery. Funeral services will follow at 11 a.m. at Kornerstone Funeral Directors Chapel with Ed Hance officiating and Mary Walker Clark assisting under the care of Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Plainview. A visitation for family and friends will be from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010, at the funeral home. Bruce was born April 30, 1916, in Hamlin, Texas, to Robert Emmett and Mary Etta Greenway Walker. In 1925 they moved to Castro County where they raised wheat. In 1929 they moved to Plainview to raise wheat and cotton. Bruce graduated from Plainview High School in 1933 and attended Wayland College for two years. On Dec. 11, 1941, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force and in 1945 was discharged as a technical sergeant in the 354th Fighter Squadron Group. In 1945 Bruce started farming in and around Hale County until retiring in 1974. In the early 1960s, he served on the Soil Conservation District No. 132 and was selected the most outstanding supervisor. It was during this time that several dams were approved and constructed along Runningwater Draw between New Mexico and Plainview to prevent flooding. He enjoyed traveling and took his 90-year-old mother, along with other family members, to the Holy Land. Other travels included China, Russia and back to Europe to visit places he had seen during the war. Bruce married Donna Duckworth on July 5, 1946, in Lubbock. They were married 61 years until her death on May 3, 2007. He attended First Baptist Church and later Ninth & Columbia Church of Christ. He is survived by three sisters, Luci Nall of Plain?view and Winnie Moore and Helen Walker of Lubbock; one sister-in-law, Marie (Mrs. Preston) Walker of Plainview; one daughter, Carolyn Hance and her husband, Ed, of Tunis, Tunisia; two sons, Ron Walker and his wife, Sue Gabel of Boise, Idaho, and John Dee Walker and wife, Tara, of Plainview; seven grandchildren, Zachary Walker and his wife, Nola, of Boise, Idaho, Sarah Reese and her husband, Isaac, of Boise, Idaho, Jennifer Hance Whitley and her husband, Ryan, of Houston, Jonathan Hance of Los Angeles, Calif., Robert Hance and his wife, Lauren, of Houston, Kayla Walker Voss and her husband, Dax, of Lubbock, and Jana Walker of Denver, Colo.; five great-grandchildren, Xavier Reese and Hope Reese of Boise, Idaho, Molly Walker of Boise, Idaho, Allie Voss of Lubbock and Magdalene Hance of Houston. Mr. Walker was preceded in death by his parents, Emmett and Mary Walker; his wife Donna; two brothers, Charles Walker and Preston Walker of Plainview; and one sister, Linnie Rutledge of Bridge City. The family would like to thank special friends and caregivers, Marcella Durham, Maria, Juan, Terry and Leticia Zamora and Amanda Rogers for the care and compassion given to Bruce and his family. Thanks also to the staff at Runningwater Draw Care Center in Olton. Online condolences can be made at www.kornerstonefunerals.com.