John R. Walker

John Richard Walker of Bel Air died May 18, 2018. He was 93.

Born and raised in Phoenixville, Pa., he was a son of the late Harry and Rose (née Reiter) Walker.

He was a long time industrial arts teacher in Harford County, teaching at Old Post Road from 1948 to 1950, and then teaching at Bel Air High School from the opening day of the school until his retirement in 1974. Mr. Walker was the first supervisor of industrial education in Harford County.

He wrote numerous industrial arts textbooks, manuals, and workbooks for Goodheart-Willcox Publisher. His first book was published in 1957.

Mr. Walker loved to build model airplanes, including radio control planes. He created many model airplane plans and had articles published in Model Airplane News, Flying Models, Model Builder, and Model Aviation.

In 1981, he and his wife Helen (née Spahr) moved from Bel Air to Charlottesville, Va. They returned to Maryland in 2002 and Bel Air’s Avondell eventually became their home in 2008. Mr. Walker spent his last days at the Senator Bob Hooper House in Forest Hill.
He is survived by his three children, Robert Walker and his wife, Karen, of Bel Air, Rosemary Walker, of Creve Coeur, Mo., and Richard Walker and his wife, Mary, of Chevy Chase; his grandchildren, Matthew Walker and his wife, Samantha, of Juneau, AK, Rose Ellen Sieracki and her husband, Eric, of Bel Air, and Caroline Walker, of Ithaca, NY; and a great-grandson, Shane Sieracki, of Bel Air. Mr. Walker has no surviving brothers or sisters.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in his name to the Senator Bob Hooper House, c/o Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation, 520 Upper Chesapeake Drive, Suite 405, Bel Air, MD 21014.