[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 64 (Tuesday, May 8, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2959-S2960]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO RUBEN CURTIS ``R.C.'' WALKER

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today in honor of a man who has 
always been ready and willing to answer the call of distress in his 
hometown of London, KY, in Laurel County: Mr. Ruben Curtis Walker, 
better known by what everyone typically calls him, ``R.C.'' He has 
served as a member of numerous first-response teams for the local 
people of his community for almost 60 years.
  A life-long passion for service in the rescue field began for R.C. in 
1952, when he joined the London Fire Department. He has maintained some 
kind of position there, whether volunteer or paid, ever since. R.C. has 
a deep desire to extend a helping hand to those in need. He enjoyed his 
job and he enjoyed the work he was doing for his community so much, in 
fact, that in 1962 Fire Chief Gilmore Phelps noticed his display of 
passion and asked him to start the first-ever Laurel County fire 
department. R.C. took on the challenge and met it with flying colors. 
He went on to run an excellent fire department for 18\1/2\ years before 
finally stepping down as chief.
  Having always been active in his community and anxious to help out, 
R.C. didn't just devote his time to the new County Fire Department; he 
was involved across the board in the service arena. He was deputy 
coroner, then eventually coroner in 1966, the same year that he ran for 
county sheriff. He opened the Bowling-Walker funeral home in 1965. He 
has also been deputy sheriff in Laurel County, and the county jailer 
from 1989 to 1993.
  However diverse the life of R.C. Walker was, he did not stray far 
from the fire department. His first love was fire and rescue, and that 
is where he is most at home. Although he does not fight fires with the 
department today, he does still participate in other activities with 
the firemen, many of whom refer to him as `Pap.'
  Mr. Walker is not only a devoted public servant, but also a beloved 
family man. Aside from firefighter, he holds a few other titles--like 
husband, father, and grandfather. He and his wife of 25 years, Marie, 
have four children, Eddie, Steven, Stewart, and Deborah Greenwall. R.C. 
is dearly cherished by all who know him. I can say with certainty that 
his family, the boys at the fire department, and the local citizens of 
Laurel County feel safe knowing a man as honest and caring as Ruben 
Curtis Walker is watching out for them.
  I ask my colleagues in the United States Senate to join me in 
commemorating Mr. Ruben Curtis Walker for the great many contributions 
he has to his local community.
  There was recently an article printed in the Sentinel-Echo: Silver 
Edition, a Laurel County, KY local newspaper magazine, which 
highlighted the countless accomplishments of R.C. Walker throughout his 
colorful life. I ask unanimous consent the article be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to appear in the 
Record as follows:

        [From the Sentinel-Echo: Silver Edition, November 2011]

                            He's Done It All

                            (By Carol Mills)

       He has been a first responder in many ways--firefighter, 
     rescue worker, sheriff's deputy, coroner, and jailer.
       Ruben Curtis ``R.C.'' Walker joined the London Fire 
     Department in 1952, and has been a volunteer fireman for the 
     city or county most of his life.
       He has also been with the London-Laurel County Rescue Squad 
     most of the time.
       ``I've really enjoyed being a firefighter. I've always been 
     helpful on the rescue squad whether I was with the city or 
     county. I remember rescuing this fellow out of an electric 
     line. When they were clearing the bottom out to put the new 
     sanitation system in, I got a call from the funeral home they 
     found somebody they thought was dead down there. He was 
     putting a new blade on a bulldozer and he swung his boom 
     around and he got it into 6,900 volts of electricity. I 
     jumped in the truck and pulled it away from the electric 
     line. The door was open on the truck, so I took a running go 
     and jumped in. He was passing in and out, but he wasn't 
     dead.''
       Back then, the funeral homes transported patients to the 
     hospital because the ambulance service was established on 
     Jan. 1, 1977.
       ``It's just wonderful that I could be of help to somebody. 
     I've been through a lot of situations. I devoted the biggest 
     majority of my life to fire and rescue. My son, Steven, is a 
     sergeant in the state police and my son, Stewart, is chief of 
     the city police.
       ``Gilmore Phelps was chief in 1952, and he talked me into 
     joining the fire department with them,'' Walker recalled. ``I 
     was working around a florist and a grocery store here in 
     town, Acton's Grocery, here on Main Street. I was with the 
     city in '54 when I starting working at House Funeral Home on 
     East Fourth Street.''

[[Page S2960]]

       In 1958, Walker left House Funeral Home, but he was still 
     with the city fire department. He started working with Laurel 
     Funeral Home on South Main Street where the Laurel Judicial 
     Center is now.
       ``There used to be a big home there and we used it,'' he 
     recalled. ``And I sold cars for a while. In the meantime, 
     while I was at Laurel Funeral Home, they talked me into 
     starting the county fire department.''
       Walker was appointed the first Laurel County fire chief 
     when the department was organized in 1962, a position now 
     held by Tommy Johnston. Walker was chief for 18-and-a-half 
     years before stepping down after getting injured.
       In the meantime in 1965, he opened the Bowling-Walker 
     Funeral Home on Dixie Street where the London-Laurel County 
     Farmers Market is now. He sold out his part in the funeral 
     business after he had back surgery.
       While at Bowling-Walker, he was a deputy coroner and, when 
     he ran for sheriff in 1966, he was the coroner. He has been a 
     deputy with the Laurel County Sheriff's Office, too.
       ``That's why my boys picked up the police business.''
       He then ran for Laurel County Sheriff in 1970.
       ``I won the nominee on the Republican (ticket) out of 14 
     and then the Democrats beat me in the fall,'' Walker 
     recalled. ``I then went back to House Funeral Home in 1973 
     and worked until '80. In 1982, I went to work for Laurel 
     Funeral Home, which had moved to (Ky.) 192 on the hill behind 
     the school, Laurel County High.''
       Walker was Laurel County jailer from 1989 until 1993. When 
     he was elected, he came back to the London Fire Department 
     and has been there ever since.
       Walker has been married to his wife, Marie, for 25 years 
     and he has another son, Eddie, who lives in Texas, and a 
     daughter, Deborah Greenwall, an attorney in Louisville.
       ``I've got a good relationship with the children and 
     grandbabies,'' Marie Walker said.
       Now at 77, Walker does not actively fight fires, but 
     continues to participate in any of the department's other 
     activities.
       ``I don't do much. They kind of take care of me. Some of 
     them call me `Pap.'''

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