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A RESOLUTION adjourning the Senate in honor and loving memory of Norman 1
H. Walker. 2
WHEREAS, Norman Walker was born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in 3
Muskegon, Michigan, by the late Robert and Mary Eta Crowley Walker; and 4
WHEREAS, Norman Walker began the military career that would shape his life 5
when he joined the Prince of Wales Rangers with the Canadian Army Reserves in 1942 at 6
the age of 16; and 7
WHEREAS, Norman Walker enlisted in the United States Navy at the age of 17, 8
where he was assigned as a guard gunner. In 1944 his first ship was torpedoed and sunk 9
by a Japanese submarine, which led him to cling to a lifeboat for days until rescued, only 10
to have his next ship be torpedoed, but not sunk, by a German U-Boat; and 11
WHEREAS, Norman Walker's brush with death in the Pacific Theater gained him a 12
brief reprieve to New York, but soon thereafter he was sent back to the Pacific island of 13
Okinawa to fight the rest of the war; and 14
WHEREAS, Norman Walker's valiant service during World War II saw him 15
promoted to Chief in the United States Navy and on sea duty in the not-always-calm 16
postwar waters of Europe. In 1948, he commissioned the submarine squadron SUB 17
Division Group II with Captain Roy Benson, and in 1949, Chief Walker was aboard the 18
USS Tusk when the USS Cochino blew up and sank off of the coast of Norway; and 19
WHEREAS, Norman Walker, aboard the USS Tusk, went to rescue the USS 20
Cochino, a mission that earned Chief Walker the Gold Lifesaving Medal, an honor issued 21
only some 600 times since its establishment in 1874; and 22
WHEREAS, Norman Walker's leadership continued into civilian life, as in 1962 he 23
became the Area Manager of Florida and the Caribbean Islands for installation and 24
technical services for Diebold, Incorporated, based in Tampa, Florida, and winning 25
Diebold's Area Manager of the Year Award 8 out of 12 years he held the post; and 26
WHEREAS, Norman Walker's tenure at Diebold oversaw an expansion of 18 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1834
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branch offices and over 300 employees, plus a 28-person management team; and 1
WHEREAS, Norman Walker was a member of the Naval Enlisted Reserve 2
Association (NERA), the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), and the 3
Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and was the executive director of the USS Requin 4
Submarine Memorial in downtown Tampa; and 5
WHEREAS, Norman Walker served his Tampa community through various 6
outreach programs with community schools and by founding and serving as director of 7
the Sea Explorer Scouts Group 481 of Tampa. Additionally Chief Walker served on the 8
Board of Trustees of the Unicorn Maritime Institute of Tampa Bay, Incorporated, and on 9
the boards of the Wildlife Rescue, Incorporated, and the Tampa Council Navy League; 10
and 11
WHEREAS, Norman Walker lived many places before he left this earthly life, 12
including Danville, Kentucky, Detroit and Muskegon, Michigan, and Tampa, Florida, but 13
his home was wherever his family was, and Chief Walker will be laid to rest in Camp 14
Nelson Cemetery; and 15
WHEREAS, Norman Walker is survived by his wife of 46 years, Joan Lovey 16
Walker, and many loving family and friends; 17
NOW, THEREFORE, 18
Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 19
Kentucky: 20
Section 1. The Senate hereby extends its most profound sympathy upon the 21
passing of Norman H. Walker and expresses heartfelt condolences to his family in this 22
time of loss. 23
Section 2. When the Senate adjourns this day, it does so in honor and loving 24
memory of Norman H. Walker. 25
Section 3. The Clerk of the Senate is hereby directed to transmit a copy of this 26
Resolution to Senator Damon Thayer for delivery to the family. 27