Walter,88, was born July 17, 1927, in Corbin, Kentucky. He was a smokejumper at McCall, Idaho, during the summers of 1949, 1954, and 1955 and had 26 fire jumps in addition to his training jumps.

Walt was a pilot for Trans-World Airways for 30 years. In retirement he lived in Tucson and Marana, Arizona. His date of death was sometime before 2015.