The co founder of the NSRA and the man behind Walker Radiator left to be with his lord today. His dedication to promoting the sport is one of the reasons it's where it is today. He"ll be missed.
Sorry to hear that. He had been in home care for a long time. Let us remember Vern Jr. and the rest of his family.
Godspeed Mr. Walker. I’ve had a number of Walker radiators and was always pleased with their quality, reliability and appearance. I believe Mr. Walker, along with another man whose name escapes me bought the NSRA when Cotton Werksman and Bruce Miller found it too big to manage for a couple of guys from Illinois. Cotton and Bruce had been approached by Tom Medley to run it initially and Tom had provided some seed money from Petersen Publishing. Vernon being a businessman had the knowledge and means to set up an office for the organization and that was definitely needed. Bruce Miller went on to publish Street Rod Magazine and it was a good magazine but proved to be short lived. And Cotton? Well he continued to be the hot rodding icon he always was. May they all RIP.
I purchased my first Walker radiator at the Street Rod Nats South in Columbia,South Carolina around 1981, and have been using them ever since, they are in both my cars. I honestly believe Vernon Walkers products and his participation with NSRA was a big boost to hot rods and customs, RIP Mr Walker. HRP
My buddy lived next door to him in Arkansas (well the next property over) and we put the heat and ac in his shop and pool house. He was a very nice guy and had one of the coolest sign collections I have seen. We even dug up an old Studebaker dealer sign downtown that was used as a retaining wall for a business for him. He will be missed and prayers for his family.
sincere sympathy goes out to his friends, and especially his Family. I ran a Walker in a couple of my rides.
May he rest in peace. He did a lot for the hobby not only as a top level parts supplier but with NSRA.
Another big contributor to our hobby leaves us. Touring behind the scenes at Walker’s is one of my favorite memories. An amazing process, from rolls of raw copper and brass to a finished product in the so familiar white and red lettered carton. Vern, Sr. lived in West Memphis, AR, in a beautiful home with two huge buildings, one full of restored neon collectibles and the other full of restored petroliana collectibles. He also had the ultimate gas and oil collectible, a NOS Texaco gas station that he bought NIB at a big Iowa meet. He had a slab poured and erected it, complete with sign and pumps, close to his house and within sight from I-40. The thing was 100% complete, right down to the service island and the stacked oil cans in the windows! One story was that two little old ladies got off at the exit, drove down the service road and pulled in to fill up their car. They were not happy when they found that there was no gas available! So much for “You can trust your car to the man who wears the star”. I had gotten to know Vern, Jr. pretty well and he would send the Walker tour truck, “Big Red” by my place to get tires or service in between shows. Great memories. Vern, Sr. had been in ill health for some time, and had been in home hospice the last I heard. May God comfort his grieving family, and keep in their memories the long life he lived. Rest in peace, Mr. Walker.
A great person whose great energy developed a pair of quality products, customer service, along with the benchmark of quality products that served both well. Rest well sir!
The Jalopy Journal
