Walt and I were very good boyhood friends. He came to TPS 12 about 5th or 6th grade and the teacher asked me to help him with his English. We spent a lot of time with each other at each other's homes. We once made an eighty mile round trip bike trip together at the age of 12.

Walt told me of his World War II childhood time in a Nazi labor camp and how the German guard would sometimes let him sneak out of the camp to get food for his family. I remember that his stepfather father had a large bullet hole in his back.

 

Walt left our class in 1953 to join the U.S, army where he qualified as a parachutist and an army ranger. He served honorably in Korea as a military policeman (MP) and later as a Troy policeman before leaving Troy for the west.

When I got married over Christmas 1959, Walt was my best man. I haven't seen him since because we both moved away.

We had been corresponding by email and he seemed to be playing golf regularly and even had a recent hole-in-one. Walt passed away September 11, 2012 (9/11 anniversary). He is survived by his wife Cindy. Please see Walt's profle page for additional information.

 

Ed Robinson