[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 109 (Wednesday, August 5, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1560-E1561]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              DAVID WALKER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. KAREN L. THURMAN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 5, 1998

  Mrs. THURMAN. Mr. Speaker, on July 6, the Nature Coast of Florida 
lost a longtime resident and advocate--David Walker.
  For years, Dave Walker sought to balance economic development with 
environmental concerns in a changing Citrus County.
  Dave Walker was an informed constituent who based his positions on 
facts. When he had something on his mind, he took the time to let me 
know his views.
  He was always a gentleman who conducted himself in a professional 
manner. Soft-spoken, he nonetheless always got his point across; and 
you had to respect him, even if you disagreed with his position.
  No person could question his integrity or commitment. All in all, you 
had to like and respect Dave Walker. He was indeed a great guy.
  I want to express my condolences to his wife of 57 years Catherine, 
and to his children, grandchildren, and his great-grandchild on their 
loss.
  For the Record, I would like to include an article from the Citrus 
Times and an editorial from the Citrus County Chronicle.

               [From the Citrus Chronicle, July 10, 1998]

                 Walker Will Leave Legacy of Integrity

       There is a force in some men and women that sets them apart 
     from other mortals, a fine force that others can see, discern 
     and react to very naturally and without question.
       David Walker, who passed away this week, was such a man of 
     character.
       Walker had a reserved force of character within him, a 
     fierce force of honest integrity that infused his every 
     action and word. He came to serve us and protect the public 
     interest at just the right time.
       Ten years ago this county stood to slide into a sad slough 
     of unrestrained cancerous growth, a development that appeared 
     to be inexorable. That growth threatened to overlay the 
     natural beauties of this gorgeous green portion of Florida 
     with one long serpentine stretch of asphalt and glaring 
     storefront glass.
       Citrus County was being sucked into a pattern of unbridled 
     development that aimed to tear up and destroy irreplaceable 
     wetlands in order to construct such things as apartment 
     houses and parking lots.
       Walker, along with a handful of other dedicated 
     conservationists and environmentalists, or so these dedicated 
     citizens were labeled, stood up to speak against such 
     development, to speak for the greater good.
       He listened to others and he worked unstintingly to build a 
     consensus. Largely due to who he was, through the force of 
     his character and his admirable ability to calmly discuss the 
     facts without recourse to shrill emotion, he was able to 
     convince decision-makers that it was unwise to allow such 
     growth for short-term private profit.
       Walker devoted countless hours to help draft a development 
     plan for the county that would protect our natural resources 
     while allowing more reasonable and thoughtful growth. With 
     the same vision and drive, he worked on many other boards 
     too, to the same end.
       In his life, in his long service to his government as an 
     agent of the FBI, and in his subsequent service to the people 
     of this county and state, Walker was a true patriot.
       This county owes a great debt to David Walker, a man who 
     was guided always by granite-hard principles of morality. He 
     was truly a man you could learn from and look up to. His 
     works and his memory will live on.

                 [From the Citrus Times, July 8, 1998]

                 Longtime activist in county dies at 82

                            (By Josh Zimmer)

       The 1980s were boom times for Citrus County, a rural area 
     experiencing the throes of development as well as the 
     threatening consequences to the environment.
       While both forces fought for pre-eminence, David Walker, a 
     former FBI agent, fur trapper and wildlife photographer, did 
     what few thought could have been done:
       He found common ground.
       Mr. Walker, formerly of Floral City, died Monday (July 6, 
     1998) in Tampa. He was 82.
       Tuesday, Mr. Walker was remembered as a uniquely well-
     versed, open-minded person who could bridge development and 
     environmental interests.
       ``I think he set the example for community activists 
     engaging in a reasonable approach to improving our county.'' 
     said Citrus County Commissioner Jim Fowler, who was a private 
     business owner when he met Mr. Walker at planning meetings. 
     ``He could see several sides to an issue.''
       Mr. Walker, a vibrant public speaker who suffered from 
     Parkinson's disease in recent years, was a ``a perfect 
     gentleman,'' Fowler said.
       Mr. Walker, who moved closer to his daughter in Tampa in 
     May, was born in South Portland, Maine. According to friends, 
     he enjoyed recounting his youthful days spent in the state's 
     vast woods, where he later became a fur trapper.
       In 1940, he embarked on a long career with the FBI, which 
     ended in 1966 and provided him with additional fodder for his 
     storytelling abilities.
       In addition, Mr. Walker was widely traveled, raising a 
     family and holding onto a close marriage all the while.
       ``I would consider myself to have had a very successful 
     life if I did one-quarter of what David Walker did. The man 
     was remarkable,'' said Gary Maidhof, interim director of the 
     county's Department of Development Services. Despite his 
     hard-bitten law enforcement background, Maidhof said, ``He 
     could go on at length about a bluebird nest he established in 
     his backyard.''
       One of Mr. Walker's great skills as a conservationist was 
     attention to detail, remembered Maidhof, who said he got to 
     know Mr. Walker through their work together on the county's 
     first comprehensive development plan, approved in the mid-
     1980s, and other committees.
       The plan, which guides development throughout the county, 
     bears Mr. Walker's strong imprint, he said.
       ``That is a reflection to many of his influences,'' Maidhof 
     said.
       Another favorite cause of Mr. Walker's was conservation, 
     and he actively supported land acquisitions, such as Jordan 
     Ranch and Potts Preserve, Maidhof said.
       In later years, as his health failed, Mr. Walker remained 
     keenly interested in environmental issues, such as flood 
     plain maps and ecosystem management ``I would receive a phone 
     call or a letter if there was an issue he felt strongly 
     about,'' Maidhof said.
       Friends said Mr. Walker struggled with poor health and the 
     toll it took on Catherine, his wife of 57 years. In recent 
     months,

[[Page E1561]]

     he required help getting in and out of a wheelchair, said 
     former Citrus Commissioner Hank Cohen.
       Cohen and his wife, Miriam, visited Mr. Walker in Tampa 
     less than two week ago. Mr. Walker's voice was so weak that 
     he wrote his words on paper instead of speaking, Cohen 
     remembered.
       Catherine, who is older than Mr. Walker, wheeled him to the 
     window for what turned out to be a last farewell.
       ``That was a hard,'' Cohen said, his voice breaking. ``We 
     could see him wave through. He waved to us, we waved back, We 
     knew that would be last we saw him.''

     

                          ____________________