Funeral services for Paula Dean Walker, 90, of Arch, will be held at 10:00 AM, Sat., Jan., 27, 2018 at the Arch Baptist Church with Rev. Wesley McAfee officiating, assisted by Ben Partin. Burial will follow in the Mt. Zion Cemetery with Seth Walker, Nathan Walker, Clayton Walker, Jake Walker, Walker Partin and Ben Partin serving as pallbearers. Glen McAfee, Wesley Bales, Wayne Hardin and Cliff Neece along with the Coffee Shop Crew and all other family friends will serve as honorary pallbearers. Those desiring to make memorial contributions may send them to the New Mexico Baptist Children’s Home, P O Box 629, Portales, NM 88130.
Paula Dean Walker was born April 25, 1927 in Wilburton, OK to the home of Zona Mae (Reid) and Vernon Lowder and died Jan. 23, 2018 in Portales, NM. After her father was killed in a logging truck accident when she was eleven, her mother moved the family to Illinois where she had family. After the start of World War II, Mrs. Walker and her mother went to work in the war effort. For a time she packed parachutes, and then later she worked in the ship building yards as a welder in Oakland, CA. It was while living in CA that she met Fletcher Walker, and they were married in Oakland, CA on Dec. 11, 1945. When he received his discharge from the Navy, they moved to the Arch community where Mr. Walker’s family was. In 1956, they built a new home where they lived until 1965, at which time they bought the home where she lived the remainder of her life.
Mrs. Walker went to work for Mountain Bell Telephone as an operator in 1954, and retired in 1979 after 25 years as a sales representative and receptionist. In addition to her office work, she enjoyed making a warm and inviting home for her family. Mrs. Walker always grew a large garden and canned the produce for the winter. She was a wonderful cook, and enjoyed baking. Each morning various family members and friends would gather in her kitchen for coffee. For a number of years she played cards on a regular basis with other ladies of the Arch community. She was a faithful member of the Arch Baptist Church.
She is survived by two sons and daughters-in-law, William “Bill” and Gayle Walker and Vernon and Teresa Walker of Arch; two daughters and sons-in-law, Velma Nadine and Henry King of Wichita, KS and Karla and Jerry Partin of Portales; 14 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; and a sister, Verloyn Lessel of Red Oak, OK. She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Juanita Holland and by her beloved husband, Fletcher Walker, who died July 6, 2016 after more than 70 years of marriage.