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Created page with "{{Infobox person | name = Morgan Wailes Walker Jr. | image = | birth_date =November 5, 1928 | birth_place = Alexandria<br>R..."
{{Infobox person
| name = Morgan Wailes Walker Jr.
| image =
| birth_date =November 5, 1928
| birth_place = [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]<br>Rapides Parish, [[Louisiana]], USA
| death_date =August 12, 2008 (aged 79)
| death_place =Covington, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
| resting place=Greenwood Memorial Park in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], Louisiana
|occupation=[[Business]]man; equestrian, rancher, [[farmer]]
|spouse=Sue Field Walker
|children=Morgan W. Walker, III<br>
Donald Hancock Walker<br>
John Luke Walker<br>
Five grandchildren
|footnotes=
}}
'''Morgan Wailes Walker Jr.''' (November 5, 1928 – August 12, 2008), was a [[business]]man invested in [[farming]], [[cattle]] [[ranching]], [[catfish]] production, [[restaurant]] management, and [[bank]]ing, originally from [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], [[Louisiana]].
==Background==
Walker was one of six children born to [[Morgan W. Walker, Sr.]], a native of Dodson in Winn Parish. Walker's mother, the former Genevieve James (1900–1960), was the youngest of fourteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. William Calvit James, originally from Boyce in northern Rapides Parish. The senior Walker, who graduated with a [[business]] degree from [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], owned Walker Cloverland Dairy, which subsequently became Walker-Roemer Dairy. Beginning with a taxicab service, the senior Walker also established Trans-Continental Bus Lines, the forerunner of Continental Trailways. For a time, Walker, Sr., was also the president of the Rapides Parish School Board and, from 1970 to 1978, was chairman of the board of former Guaranty Bank and Trust Company.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://longrootshighbranches.blogspot.com/2006/08/genevieve-james-walker_115539890861503976.html|title=Deep Roots and High Branches: Genevieve James Walker|publisher=longrootshighbranches.blogspot.com|accessdate=January 26, 2015}}</ref>
Walker was reared on the family plantation off Horseshoe Drive in Alexandria. In his teens, he delivered [[milk]] for the family dairy. Like his mother, he became accomplished at horsemanship. He was an [[Eagle Scout]]. He graduated in 1947 after four years of study at the defunct Sewanee Military Academy in [[Chattanooga]], [[Tennessee]]. He soon left [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]] to work in farming and ranching. In the early 1950s, during the [[Korean War]], Walker joined the Seabees Reserve and was honorably discharged in 1954 from the [[United States Navy]].<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080817/OBITUARIES/80816018/1023|title=Morgan Walker Jr.|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|date=August 16, 2008|accessdate=January 26, 2015}}</ref>
==Business acumen==
In 1970, Walker converted his 1,100-acre cattle ranch located off Louisiana Highway 28 West in Alexandria into [[catfish]] ponds. He became a pioneer in the raising and sale of catfish for consumption. He redesigned a small farmhouse on the ranch into the former Grand Maw's House, a catfish restaurant. In 1985, Walker was elected to the board of his father's Guaranty Bank, which occupied the tallest building in Alexandria, located across Third Street from the Alexandria City Hall. The Guaranty building is now anchored to Capital One. Walker learned to fly and used his Cessna to reach family farming operations near Ferriday] in Concordia Parish in eastern Louisiana. He piloted state and national [[politician]]s around the country.<ref name=obit/>
In 1979, Walker acquired the [[Washington, D.C.]], franchise for Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits. He moved his family to the D.C. area for a time and was named to Popeye's Hall of Fame. He sold his last franchise in that area in March 2007. In 1993, Walker purchased a horse farm in Clarke County in northern [[Virginia]] and raised registered American Quarter Horses. Invited to ride with the Blue Ridge Hunt, named for the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]], he became accomplished at foxhunting. His obituary describes him as "at heart a [[cowboy]]." In 2003, he retired to the North Shore of [[Lake Pontchartrain]], where he taught disabled children how to ride horses and was a volunteer in [[Habitat for Humanity]].<ref name=obit/>
==Death and family==
Walker died at his home in Covington in [[suburban]] St. Tammany Parish near [[New Orleans]]. Survivors included his wife, the former Sue Field; three sons, Morgan Walker, III (born 1958), an associate [[professor]] of [[painting]] at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], [[Oregon]]; Donald Hancock Walker, a financial consultant on [[film]]s in Venice, [[California]]; and John Luke Walker (born November 11, 1960), an assistant [[U.S. Attorney]] in [[Lafayette,]], Louisiana; five grandchildren; and brother Edgar E. Walker, Sr. He was preceded in death by four [[sister]]s. Services were held on August 19 at St. James [[Episcopal]] Church in Alexandria. He is interred with other family members at Greenwood Memorial Park in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]].<ref name=obit/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Jr., Morgan W.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Virginia]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Farmers]]
[[Category:Episcopalians]]
[[Category:United States Navy]]
[[Category:Korean War]]
| name = Morgan Wailes Walker Jr.
| image =
| birth_date =November 5, 1928
| birth_place = [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]<br>Rapides Parish, [[Louisiana]], USA
| death_date =August 12, 2008 (aged 79)
| death_place =Covington, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
| resting place=Greenwood Memorial Park in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], Louisiana
|occupation=[[Business]]man; equestrian, rancher, [[farmer]]
|spouse=Sue Field Walker
|children=Morgan W. Walker, III<br>
Donald Hancock Walker<br>
John Luke Walker<br>
Five grandchildren
|footnotes=
}}
'''Morgan Wailes Walker Jr.''' (November 5, 1928 – August 12, 2008), was a [[business]]man invested in [[farming]], [[cattle]] [[ranching]], [[catfish]] production, [[restaurant]] management, and [[bank]]ing, originally from [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], [[Louisiana]].
==Background==
Walker was one of six children born to [[Morgan W. Walker, Sr.]], a native of Dodson in Winn Parish. Walker's mother, the former Genevieve James (1900–1960), was the youngest of fourteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. William Calvit James, originally from Boyce in northern Rapides Parish. The senior Walker, who graduated with a [[business]] degree from [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], owned Walker Cloverland Dairy, which subsequently became Walker-Roemer Dairy. Beginning with a taxicab service, the senior Walker also established Trans-Continental Bus Lines, the forerunner of Continental Trailways. For a time, Walker, Sr., was also the president of the Rapides Parish School Board and, from 1970 to 1978, was chairman of the board of former Guaranty Bank and Trust Company.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://longrootshighbranches.blogspot.com/2006/08/genevieve-james-walker_115539890861503976.html|title=Deep Roots and High Branches: Genevieve James Walker|publisher=longrootshighbranches.blogspot.com|accessdate=January 26, 2015}}</ref>
Walker was reared on the family plantation off Horseshoe Drive in Alexandria. In his teens, he delivered [[milk]] for the family dairy. Like his mother, he became accomplished at horsemanship. He was an [[Eagle Scout]]. He graduated in 1947 after four years of study at the defunct Sewanee Military Academy in [[Chattanooga]], [[Tennessee]]. He soon left [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]] to work in farming and ranching. In the early 1950s, during the [[Korean War]], Walker joined the Seabees Reserve and was honorably discharged in 1954 from the [[United States Navy]].<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080817/OBITUARIES/80816018/1023|title=Morgan Walker Jr.|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|date=August 16, 2008|accessdate=January 26, 2015}}</ref>
==Business acumen==
In 1970, Walker converted his 1,100-acre cattle ranch located off Louisiana Highway 28 West in Alexandria into [[catfish]] ponds. He became a pioneer in the raising and sale of catfish for consumption. He redesigned a small farmhouse on the ranch into the former Grand Maw's House, a catfish restaurant. In 1985, Walker was elected to the board of his father's Guaranty Bank, which occupied the tallest building in Alexandria, located across Third Street from the Alexandria City Hall. The Guaranty building is now anchored to Capital One. Walker learned to fly and used his Cessna to reach family farming operations near Ferriday] in Concordia Parish in eastern Louisiana. He piloted state and national [[politician]]s around the country.<ref name=obit/>
In 1979, Walker acquired the [[Washington, D.C.]], franchise for Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits. He moved his family to the D.C. area for a time and was named to Popeye's Hall of Fame. He sold his last franchise in that area in March 2007. In 1993, Walker purchased a horse farm in Clarke County in northern [[Virginia]] and raised registered American Quarter Horses. Invited to ride with the Blue Ridge Hunt, named for the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]], he became accomplished at foxhunting. His obituary describes him as "at heart a [[cowboy]]." In 2003, he retired to the North Shore of [[Lake Pontchartrain]], where he taught disabled children how to ride horses and was a volunteer in [[Habitat for Humanity]].<ref name=obit/>
==Death and family==
Walker died at his home in Covington in [[suburban]] St. Tammany Parish near [[New Orleans]]. Survivors included his wife, the former Sue Field; three sons, Morgan Walker, III (born 1958), an associate [[professor]] of [[painting]] at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], [[Oregon]]; Donald Hancock Walker, a financial consultant on [[film]]s in Venice, [[California]]; and John Luke Walker (born November 11, 1960), an assistant [[U.S. Attorney]] in [[Lafayette,]], Louisiana; five grandchildren; and brother Edgar E. Walker, Sr. He was preceded in death by four [[sister]]s. Services were held on August 19 at St. James [[Episcopal]] Church in Alexandria. He is interred with other family members at Greenwood Memorial Park in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]].<ref name=obit/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Jr., Morgan W.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Virginia]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Farmers]]
[[Category:Episcopalians]]
[[Category:United States Navy]]
[[Category:Korean War]]