William "Bill" Neal Walton

Scottsdale - William "Bill" Neal Walton , 96, of Scottsdale, Arizona, passed away peacefully on November 3, 2025.

Born in Kewanee, Illinois, on June 19, 1929, to William Franklin and Violet Welch Walton, Bill grew up in a small-town world that shaped his lifelong love of family, teamwork, and community. He and his younger brother, Steve, shared an adventurous childhood in Kewanee that laid the foundation for Bill's remarkable drive and optimism.

While attending Kewanee High School, Bill was the starting quarterback for the Boilermakers, earning the nickname "The Mighty Midget." His athleticism and leadership extended across sports-football, basketball, baseball, and track-where he was named all-conference in both football and basketball and served as Senior Class President. Decades later, he was inducted into the Kewanee High School Athletic Hall of Fame, an honor that made him smile every time it was mentioned.

Bill continued his education at Monmouth College, where he earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree. There, he once again lettered in four sports and served as president of Theta Chi Fraternity. But the greatest highlight of his college years wasn't on the field-it was meeting the love of his life, Barbara "Bobbie" Faus. The story of how they met became a family favorite: Bobbie had won a football signed by every player-except one. Determined to make it complete, she sought out Bill for the missing signature, and from that day forward, they were inseparable. Bill and Bobbie were married for 67 years until her passing in 2019, a love story that stood as an example to everyone who knew them.

After college, Bill served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War, stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, as a communications specialist. Following his service, he returned home to Kewanee to teach and coach at his alma mater. During this time, he also earned a master's degree in education administration from Bradley University.

Ever creative and visionary, Bill later followed his passion for landscape architecture, moving his young family-four children under the age of six-to Ames, Iowa, to pursue a degree at Iowa State University. In 1963, after graduating with a degree in Landscape Architecture, the Waltons relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona, where Bill began his lifelong impact on the city he came to love.

Known affectionately as "The Father of the Indian Bend Wash," Bill forever changed the way Scottsdale lived with its natural landscape. In 1964, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed a concrete flood channel, Bill offered a different idea-a living, green corridor that would handle floods while serving as a beautiful recreational space the rest of the year. His vision became reality, and today the Indian Bend Wash stands as a nationally recognized model of urban design and community foresight.

Throughout his long career, Bill served Scottsdale in countless ways: as City Planner (1970-1973), City Councilman (1984-1992), and Vice Mayor (1986, 1992). As Planning Director, he helped create the Planned Community District that shaped McCormick Ranch, one of the most thoughtfully designed communities in the nation. His leadership also helped bring the Tournament Players Club (TPC) and the Phoenix Open to Scottsdale-two projects that perfectly reflected his passion for both good planning and great golf. His "desert greenbelt" concept continues to preserve the beauty of the Sonoran Desert and the natural spaces he loved so much.

Later, as founder of W.N. Walton & Associates, Inc., he shared his expertise with communities across the Southwest.

Yet for all his professional accomplishments, Bill's proudest achievements were at home-with Bobbie, his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He believed deeply in family, service, and community.

Golf was Bill's lifelong passion. He loved the game not only for its challenge, but for its companionship, rhythm, and lessons in patience and persistence. He especially cherished traveling to play new courses, with Ballybunion in Ireland standing out as his all-time favorite. Among his most joyful moments on the course were the day he shot his age-74-and the thrill of his hole-in-one on the Desert Course at TPC Scottsdale. Whether playing a quiet morning round or watching the pros at the Phoenix Open, golf was Bill's way of celebrating life, friendship, and the beauty of a well-designed landscape.

He made sure to pass along those same lessons to his grandchildren-about integrity, follow-through, and finding joy in every shot. Bill even took each of them to City Hall on their 18th birthday to register to vote, a quiet tradition that reflected both his love of country and his belief in civic duty.

Bill is lovingly survived by his four children, Terri Calderón (Ernest) of Phoenix, AZ; Vicki Lustig (Paul) of Chicago, IL; Doug Walton (Valerie) of Scottsdale, AZ; and Jeff Walton (Sherry Chappell) of Scottsdale, AZ; his eleven grandchildren-Lindsay, Meghan, Jennifer, Kelly, Kevin, Taylor, Grant, Alanna, Jordan, Katie, and Kendall-and his twelve great-grandchildren.

A memorial celebration to honor Bill is being planned for January in Scottsdale, date to be determined. His life reminds us that vision, service, and love can leave a lasting mark-not just on a city, but on everyone lucky enough to have known him.