Donald L. Walker Jr.

1932 - 2024

Donald L. Walker, Jr.

Syracuse, NY - The family and friends of Donald L. Walker, Jr., are heartbroken. At 92 he was "ridiculously healthy," (said his PCP) and chipping away at house and garden projects after moving to Syracuse, New York, last October. But cancer took him away on August 13th. Don was born in the Bronx in 1932, and when he graduated from high school, he was at a loss to have his next destination noted in the senior yearbook. The guidance counselor gave him an aptitude test, which judged him suited for landscape architecture. Neither one knew what that was, so looked in a book of professions and Don thought the description sounded good. Don went on to the University of Illinois and remained influential in that field for 60 years - as practitioner, a registered landscape architect in Massachusetts and teacher, including departments of landscape architecture at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana; Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana; and 26 years as a teacher and then director of the Conway School of Landscape Design, retiring in 2005. When Don fell ill, we asked his past students to write to him to remind him of his legacy. Shortly after he entered Hospice care, family members gathered to take turns reading to Don over forty messages and cards in what we considered a 'living wake'. To a person, the students all said that Don was the best teacher they ever had and that he changed their lives. Who can beat that?

Ever the teacher, Don chose to give himself to the Anatomical Gift Program at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, where he now waits to meet his last class - first-year medical, physical therapy, and physician assistant students at Upstate.

Family members carrying on are wife Ruth Parnall, Syracuse, NY; son Gordon T. Walker (Cynthia), Ashburn, VA; stepson Noah Parnall Montena (Jessica), Syracuse, NY; stepdaughter Sana Gardescu Hathaway (Stephen), Northampton, MA; and grandchildren Heather Walker, Scott Walker, and Maya Montena. In accordance with Don's wishes, there will be no memorial services, but he would encourage all who read this to vote, in his stead, for democracy, climate action, and good sense in November.