John C. Walker ’45

Johnnie came from East Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Shaw High School and spent a year at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, where he met his future wife, Joanne Mumford.

At Princeton he participated in freshman football and wrestling. He was a member of Whig-Clio, Triangle, the Print Club, and Cap and Gown. Johnnie and Joanne were married in 1944. Johnnie served in the South Pacific from 1944 to 1945, flying 20 combat missions as a bombardier in a B-24 heavy bomber in the 13th Air Force, 307th Heavy Bombardment Group, 424th Squadron. He graduated from Princeton in 1947.

He worked in sales for Miles Laboratories in Detroit, then for Midland Electric Co. in Cleveland. Later, in Fort Lauderdale, he worked in marine sales and insurance with the Dick Bertram Agency at Bahia Mar.

Johnnie sailed and fished at Les Cheneaux Islands and was president of the association. He was a 55-year member of the Lauderdale Yacht Club, serving as commodore in 1969-1970. He was involved with the Southern Ocean Racing Conference, and was a race committee member for the Florida leg of the Whitbread Round-the-World Race. He was president of the Broward Mental Health Association and a member of the Restless Weasels Men’s Club and the Fort Lauderdale Orchid Society. He attended the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Lauderdale.

Johnnie died June 20, 2016; Joanne had passed away in 2014 after more than 70 years together. Johnnie is survived by his children, John Mumford Walker ’68 and Elizabeth Compton; granddaughter Sarah Compton; and two great-grandsons, Charlie and Oliver Compton.