Athene (Henderson) WALKER

HENDERSON, WALKER, OBRIEN, JONES

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:43

Athene (Henderson) Walker
January 4, 1927 --- March 17, 2020

Resident of San Mateo ATHENE HENDERSON WALKER was born on January 4, 1927 in Drakesville, Iowa. She was the youngest of four children and grew up on a small farm in Davis County, Iowa. She was educated in one-room schoolhouses in Drakesville and Belknap. In 1943, she graduated from Bloomfield High School, where she received the American Legion Award and the DAR good citizenship award and was the valedictorian. In June 1947, she graduated from the University of Iowa in Iowa City with a B.S. in Physical Education. Two weeks later, on June 22, 1947, she married C. Richard Walker of Renwick, Iowa at her mother's home in Belknap. Athene and Dick lived in Chicago, Illinois, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. for the next five years. Athene was employed as a teacher and a secretary during that time. In 1952, they moved to San Francisco, California where she worked as a legal secretary until the birth of her first daughter, Ann Yvonne Walker, in 1954. In 1955, she, her husband and her daughter moved to San Mateo and were joined by a second daughter, Susan Athene Walker, in 1960. For many years, Athene was active in the League of Women Voters, AAUW (American Association of University Women), Lawyer's Wives, Democratic Club, Hillsborough Parents' Groups, PTAs, Poplar Auxiliary, Girl Scouts and Mills Hospital Auxiliary. Her greatest joy was her family and she traveled extensively with them. She also took great pleasure in her friends, gardening, horseback riding, music, throwing many family-oriented parties and celebrating holidays.

Athene is survived by her two daughters, Ann Yvonne Walker of Atherton and Su A. O'Brien of Boerne, Texas, sons-in-law David M. Jones and Damon O'Brien, and two cherished grandchildren, C. Richard (Rick) Walker Jones and Esther Kick O'Brien. She was predeceased by her beloved husband of nearly 44 years, C. Richard Walker, in 1991.

Mercury News --- San Jose, CA
March 27, 2020