Walter Leslie Reynolds Jr.

Walter was born May 22nd, 1937 in Newark, New Jersey to Walter Sr. and Katherine. He spent his early childhood in West Orange, New Jersey, running around the neighborhood playing stick ball with his buddy, Brian Johnson, and going across the river to see the Dodgers and Giants at Ebbets Field and The Polo Grounds. At ten, he moved to the San Fernando Valley in California with his dad and stepmother, Chancie. He was soon rounded up by two heck-raisers, Chuck Palazzo and Bob Wright, mostly as an alibi for them (he was the "nice" boy), and they stayed fast friends throughout the rest of their lives. He starred in track and field at Van Nuys High, coming in 3rd in the 440-yard dash in the LA City Section his senior year.

His academic excellence got him admitted to Stanford University, where he graduated with honors in math. His time in the ROTC led him to post-war Korea, where he was quickly promoted to 1st lieutenant in an intelligence unit on the DMZ. He was never under direct fire, but he said every once in a while, a round would "ping" off the Quonset hut he was in. He said his time in the army was where he picked up the habit of inhaling his food, which he never lost, since you only had fifteen minutes to eat your meal. He picked up a taste for kimchi and learned how to say hello on the phone in Japanese, but no Korean. When he returned to the states, he began his long teaching career at Northridge Junior High teaching math. At the suggestion of a friend, he started attending Van Nuys First Presbyterian Church, where he met his fellow youth counselor, Mary Shuck. After a short time dating, she told him in no uncertain terms that they were getting married. He thought that was a pretty good idea, or at least didn't say no. Shortly after their marriage in 1965, they returned to New Jersey where he got a Master's degree in Math at Rutgers.

When they came back to Southern California, he went to work at Taft High School in Woodland Hills, and they started having kids at a nearly mathematically impossible rate. Connie ('67), Joel ('68) and Elisabeth ('70) forced them to move from their small apartment on Albers Street to the house they ended up living in for 50 years on Bessemer Street in Reseda (now Tarzana, they got an upgrade!). During his time at Taft, Walt was the long-time cross-country coach, track coach and, for a short time, the math department chair (he did not enjoy the politics). He played bridge with his work buddies, did crosswords and logic/word puzzles in pen and stayed in pretty good shape by commuting the four miles to school on his bike most days. He worked hard to provide for his family, teaching night school at Pierce College and summer school a few times. Most of the family's summers consisted of packing up a small utility trailer and travelling up to Olympic National Park in Washington State, where Walt was a seasonal park ranger. He became a camp attendant/traffic cop/naturalist/mountain rescuer/wildland firefighter overnight! One particularly bad fire season he was gone for two weeks straight, returned to the family apartment covered in soot, fell into bed and slept for 36 hours. Those summers were some of the best memories his kids ever had.

He was extremely devoted to his family. Never missing a play, sporting event or important occasion of any of the kids. With a special needs child in the family, he and Mary strived to give her the best chance she could have at a "normal" life. He and Mary had an incredibly supportive and loving marriage that stayed strong for fifty-nine years. He was so supportive that he even went into the lion's den of the extremely large Shuck Family reunions and came out alive on the other side. These were often in Minnesota, Mary’s home state, where he said there were two seasons, winter and July, and the state bird was the mosquito. He never lost his love of puns and his odd sense of humor. He had an exceptional bass voice, was an amazing “2 step” dancer but most importantly was a wonderful father and husband. He was preceded in death by his daughter Connie, and he is survived by his wife Mary, his daughter Elisabeth, his son Joel, his five grandchildren, Simon, Madeleine, Nevah, Nathan and Turner, and his brother Roy McNally who remain devoted to his memory.