Charles Warner Walker
February 20, 1925 to June 24, 2017


Charles Warner Walker died on Saturday, June 24th, aged 92. Charles was the patriarch of a large and loving family; husband of Patricia; father of Kathleen, Suzanne, Peter, Michael, David and Mary; grandfather of Christie, Jill, Gina, Christopher, Kerry, Rebecca, Catherine, Ryan, Conor, Liam; great grandfather to Matthew, Gianna, Christian, Mallory, Aubrey, Liam, Madeleine and Minerva; father-in-law to Alfred, Gina, Lisa, Mary and Howard; brother to Mary, and son of Charles and Minerva.

Charles grew up in Hempstead, New York and attended Hempstead High School from which he graduated in 1943. In High School, he competed on the tennis team as first singles. Following a year at Alfred University, Charles enlisted in the United States Army and served (1943-1946) as a Military Policeman (726th MP Battalion) in both the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation – most notably in the Battle of the Bulge, and completed his service in Okinawa, Japan with the rank of Staff Sergeant.

Following World War II, he attended Syracuse University earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (cum laude), graduating in 1950. After college, Charles began his career as an illustrator at the United Nations, then a fledgling organization. As an award-winning illustrator, Charles worked on Madison Avenue for some of the advertising industry’s most iconic firms: BBDO, Ted Bates and RS&L among them. For three decades his illustrations appeared in national advertising campaigns for McDonald’s, Sharp and many leading brands. He also illustrated more than 30 books, including Four Days in Philadelphia, Martha Berry and Silver and Lead. Upon his retirement to Georgetown, South Carolina in 1992, Charles became a habitué of the Low Country art scene, winning Best-in-Show awards in numerous competitions.

In 1956, he married Patricia O’Sullivan to whom he was happily and fruitfully married for 59 years until her passing in 2015. He was a most loving husband, in sickness and in health, and the provider to his family at all times. While his career demanded long hours in New York City during the week, he worked every Saturday as a freelance artist in his home studio in order to feed and clothe his growing family. Despite the pressures, he often remarked on his good fortune to make his avocation (art) his vocation.

A committed Francophile, Charles loved France and its many delights: its people, art, literature, food and system of social justice. A lifelong New Deal Democrat and a crusader for liberal causes, Charles was a vocal critic of the rightward drift of American politics that as he saw it began under Ronald Reagan. He was a lover and advocate of education in all of its forms and placed the highest importance on integrity and truth.

To his family, he was a spiritual, emotional and inspirational leader. His insights and example of what it meant to lead a good life had a profound and lasting effect on his children. He was the star of the family: who shone most brightly seated at the head of the dining room table on Sunday evenings holding forth on religion, politics, history, wine or travel. He was always compelling and frequently hilarious.

His entire family will deeply miss him for the example he set, his love of life and nature, his artistic talents, his passion and erudition, his laughter and the greatest of these: love.

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