Obituary of Norman K. Walker

Norm grew up in Mount Airy and attended Henry H. Houston Elementary School, where he was Captain of the Safety Patrol; he attended Murrell Dobbins Vocational School to study electronics and television repair. After graduation, Norm worked for Bell of Pennsylvania and operated his own television and radio repair business. After graduating from Temple University with Bachelor's Degree in English and a Master's Degree in Education, Norm taught English at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School for thirty years, retiring in 1998. Following his departure from P-W, he continued to work for Militia Hill Security, the company that he co-founded with his business partner in 1982. Norm participated in a wide variety of activities. He was a member and former trustee of the Barren Hill Fire company where nothing brought him as much joy as running into burning buildings to fight fires. He loved his home on Militia Hill Road and dubbed himself the "Squire of Cold Point Hill" while he worked in his flower and vegetable gardens, split logs, walked in his woods and tinkered with vehicles and machines. There wasn't much that he couldn't fix if the parts were available. Norm did not own a television set until a friend gave him one; it gathered dust in a spare room and disappeared not too many years later. He had a fine voice and sang at Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church in his youth and with the Mastersingers later in life. Norm was a voracious reader who loved to sit on his back patio or front porch with a book in his hand, often gazing up with pleasure when birds visited his feeders or when the local herd of deer wandered through his yard. He loved traveling, cooking, and riding his motorcycles; classical music was always playing in and outside his house, and he supported the arts in Philadelphia. When a catastrophic illness nearly took Norman twelve years ago, he vowed that he would do everything in his power to continue to enjoy everything that he loved even as he faced daunting medical challenges. He lived the rest of his life with courage, determination, grace, dignity and passion. Norm never complained; and when speaking about the impact that his medical condition had, he would say, "I have a minor inconvenience." He loved life and lived it with intensity and at his highest potential. In lieu of flowers, please make contributions to Clinical Nutrition Support Services at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, www.pennmedicine.org/giving or by check made payable to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, mailed to Penn Medicine Development, 3535 Market Street, Suite 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104 Funeral arrangements are by the Lownes Family Funeral Home of Lafayette Hill.