William Samuel Walker, 62, of Kennebunk, passed away from pancreatic cancer on Feb. 24, 2022. He did not want to go.
William is survived by his beloved ‘heartner’ Laura Butterworth, children Janara Alfano, Chiara Richardson and Sasha Johnson, his sisters Clara Walker Cummings and nephews Ernest Walker and Wayne Cummings, Shirley Walker and nephew Jalil Walker and Aunts Cora Taylor, Alethia Taylor, Gladys Taylor and many cousins.
He was preceded in death by his parents Clara Naomi Walker and Robert Samuel Walker and brother Edward Walker.
He was born in southwest Philadelphia on Aug. 3, 1959, and lived in the Tasker Home Projects before moving to 51st Street. His neighborhood had attached houses and a street that regularly saw games, frequent use of the ‘waterplug’ and loud discussions between porches.
William attended James Alcorn Elementary School, Tilden Middle School and Bartram High School and after school could be found swimming, boxing or playing pickup basketball games at the Kingsessing Recreation Center. He won many trophies for his basketball skills and was soon traveling from court to court seeking a challenge. William was part of Boy Scout Troop 189 with his friends and cousins. He was a member of Christian Union Church where he sang in the choir. He was recruited to sing with the Philadelphia Boys Choir.
In 1977 after graduating from high school at the age of 17, he joined the United States Air Force. William loved basic training. During this time he was married and had his first child, Janara. He thrived as a father, advancing through the ranks to staff sergeant, attending leadership school at the University of South Carolina and playing basketball for the Air Force team. He was stationed at Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Osan Air Base in South Korea, Luke Air Force Base in Arizona and Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire, which eventually brought him to Maine.
William took early retirement when Pease Air Force Base closed and enjoyed working bike patrol as a Kennebunk Police Reserve Officer; especially his daily patrol of Parson’s Beach where he learned about sea birds and began his life’s passion work as a photographer. He was a family man, taking his daughters Chiara and Sasha to Big Daddy’s for ice cream and sharing his love of Eagles football. It was during this time that he started working with the Kennebunk Recreation Department supervising its teen center.
William was well-known in his community as the crossing guard for the elementary and high school. He grew to recognize regular commuters and students and had a special hand signal for each one; ‘thumbs up,’ ‘slow down,’ ‘you are late,’ ‘nice jump shot,’ ‘seatbelt’ and ‘helmet!’ He stood on Fletcher Street in front of Kennebunk High School directing traffic for 26 years.
Service to the community was a priority and he volunteered many hours coaching track and field and flag football and chaperoning trips. He was an expert statistician, keeping the clocks and time sheets at middle school and high school sporting events.
William was the head coach for the Kennebunk Track Club and the middle school track team. He specialized in high jump and relay instruction. He invented a game of ‘tag’ to strengthen his runners; the fastest boy runs, the girls chase him. The fastest girl runs, the boys chase her.
In 2004 he received the Amos McCallum award in recognition for Outstanding Contributions to the Student/Athlete of Kennebunk. In 2017 the Kennebunk High School yearbook was dedicated to him.
In 2010, William and Laura created an artist collaborative called Other Nice People which they trademarked to ‘shed light on the good’ through illustration by poetry, photography and watercolor painting. They traveled from Maine to California and back, giving Other Nice People stickers to people with whom they had good encounters and recording their stories in a book called “Another Day In Da Hood” by Po and Op. William narrated and Laura wrote it down.
They also worked together on real estate transactions with Butterworth Real Estate Brokerage that included property and garden management. They both worked in the Teen Extreme Program, After School Adventures and enjoyed flying together for aerial photography. William was featured in many newspaper articles and in the 2017 Huffpost.com “Just Another Love Story This Is Not” by friend Rumni Saha.
In 2021, after 11 years of preparation, William retired and they bought a roof top tent and set out to visit all the National Parks in the United states. After three months of adventures they returned home to repack for Alaska.
Suddenly, in June, William became ill and was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Laura, family, children and neighbors supported his last days.
William made the world a better place with his attention and smile. He was loud and larger than life and his laugh was catching. He will be deeply missed.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to lastprisonerproject.org.
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