Reverend Doctor Joseph William Walker

The Reverend Doctor Joseph William Walker (94) died in Black Mountain, NC on March 30 2025. He was born in Greenville, SC, son of the late Rev. Joseph G. Walker and Olive Jones Walker.

He attended public schools in Gaffney and Greeleyville, SC and graduated from high school in Forest City, NC. He went to Davidson College, graduating in 1951. While a student at Davidson he served as president of his fraternity (Sigma Chi) and during the summers worked in Montreat, first as a club leader and later as a gate boy.

Following Davidson, he attended what is now Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, VA, graduating in 1954 with a Master of Divinity Degree. He was ordained as a minister of the word and sacraments of the Presbyterian Church in Selma, NC. He completed a year of graduate study at the University of Edinburg, Scotland and later earned both a Master of Theology and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Union.

He served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Selma, NC, First Presbyterian Church of Maxton, NC, First Presbyterian Church of Decatur, AL, Whitehaven Presbyterian Church of Memphis, TN and the First Presbyterian Church of Fayetteville, NC. After retiring in 1993 to Myrtle Beach, SC, he served as an interim pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Marion, SC, Indiantown Presbyterian Church of Hemingway, SC and the First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood, SC.

Joe served the Presbyterian Church USA in many capacities including moderator of the presbyteries where he had been a member, moderator of the synod, stated clerk of the presbytery, and was elected a commissioner to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 5 times. He served as a trustee of Davidson College.

In Black Mountain he belonged to Black Mountain Presbyterian Church and served as a food service volunteer at Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry.

Joe was pre-deceased by his loving wife of 62 years, Betty Jo McCormick Walker of Rowland, NC. He is survived by his three daughters, Debbie Dunn of Swannanoa, NC, Jan Walker of Murrells Inlet, SC, and Jennifer Haire (husband Robert) of Fuquay Varina, NC. He has three grandsons: Clint Dunn, David Haire and Wesley Haire.

He had two sisters: the late Mary Olive Walker McChesney of Bristol, VA and the late Alice Ida Walker McLauchlin of High Point, NC. He had 3 nephews and 2 nieces.

A service of Witness to the Resurrection will be held at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church on May 1, 2025 at 2:00 PM. Interment will be in the Rowland Cemetery in Rowland, NC on May 2 at 2:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Montreat Conference Center, PO Box 969, Montreat, NC 28757 or to Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry, PO Box 235, Black Mountain, NC 28711.

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