THOMAS SHEAFE WALKER

1932 - 2016

WALKER, Thomas Sheafe Died from cancer on April 30, 2016 at Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, MA with his family by his side. He was born in Boston on August 23, 1932, to Joseph Timothy (Tim) Walker, Jr. and Alice Lee Walker. He and his family lived in Chestnut Hill and summered in Duxbury, MA. He attended the Shady Hill School in Cambridge, where his favorite class was shop. This interest led to his lifelong passion for tinkering and building. He went on to Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University School of Engineering, class of 1954. In 1960 he married Anne Eiseman and they settled in Manchester, MA. After college he worked as a Mechanical Engineer at the United Shoe Machinery Corp. in Beverly, then enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard as a Seaman Apprentice Officer Candidate. After his sea duty, Tom accepted a job with Northeast Engineering, an agency representing various manufacturers of mechanical products. He became a partner, primarily selling environmental testing equipment and retired in 1992. Tom's life-long and first love was the sea. He liked nothing more than "messing about in boats." Summers in Duxbury were spent sailing small boats, but in 1958 he bought Reva, a 1928 Tahiti Ketch. He and his family sailed (slowly) to Maine for thirteen summers. In 1976 the Manchester (MA) Yacht Club was invited to take part in the 150th Anniversary celebration of the Royal Western Yacht Club of England and Tom decided to take part. With his son, Nat, and three other friends he sailed across the "pond" to Plymouth, England aboard Shearwater, a 41' sloop, where his wife and daughters joined him. After the festivities, they continued to France, Spain, Portugal, Madeira and the Canary Islands then back across the ocean to the Caribbean and eventually home. It was a year he had dreamed of and a year in which he made many life-long friends. In the years that followed Tom sailed with friends in many parts of the world, including Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, the Sea of Cortez (Mexico), Puget Sound and Desolation Sound (Canada), Turkey, Croatia and New Zealand. Tom was a member of the Manchester Yacht Club for fifty years and also helped found the Manchester Sailing Association, which teaches sailing to local children. He was a member of the Cruising Club of America, Boston Station, serving as Rear Commodore from 1990-1991. He was also a member of both the Royal Cruising Club of England and the Ocean Cruising Club and was an honorary member of the Clyde Cruising Club of Scotland. In retirement he went to the "dark side" and bought a motorboat. He served for many years as a Trustee of the New England Homes for the Deaf and on the Manchester (MA) Conservation Commission. Tom is survived by his wife of 55 years, three children -- Nat, married to Liane Simpson, Amy and husband Tod Yankee, and Abby and husband Dan Horrigan -- and six grandchildren: Alex and Thomas Walker, Phil and Andy Horrigan, and Sam and Anna Yankee. He is also survived by his sister Sally Walker Thomson of Ipswich, MA and his brother Tim Walker of Westport, CT. Friends and family are invited to a celebration of his life at the Manchester Yacht Club on Friday, May 20th at 5:00 o'clock. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Manchester Sailing Association, P.O. Box 172, Manchester, MA 01944 and to the Manchester-Essex Conservation Trust, P.O. Box 1486, Manchester, MA 01944.