07/31/2006

Notification of Death - J. Harriet Walter

July 28, 2006

OFDA received word this morning that J. Harriet Walter, died at Alterra Sterling of Urbana, Friday, July 28, 2006. She was born June 22, 1920, in Oak Hill, Ohio, the daughter of Dan T. and Jennie Evans Davis. She was a 1942 graduate of Ohio University. Her Welsh heritage instilled in her a love of music which carried through her life. She taught music and English in Gallipolis, Ohio where she met her future husband, Joseph Walter, a naval officer serving his country at that time. They were married June 15, 1946, following World War II. Their first home was in Middletown, Ohio, where Joe was employed as a licensed mortician with the McCoy-Leffler Funeral Home. They soon moved to Springfield, Ohio. Mrs. Walter taught elementary vocal music in the former New Carlisle-Bethel district for ten years. There she wrote and directed original operettas making sure that each student had a part. She was also the choir director at High Street Methodist Church and a charter member of the Mitchell Hills Club.

In 1961, she moved with her family to Urbana where Joe joined the Don A. Neff Funeral Home, soon to become the Walter Funeral Home. In 1966, Harriet passed the state board to become a licensed funeral director, one of the few women licensed in Ohio at that time. As a professional in the business, Mrs. Walter also acted as organist, receptionist, and office manager. She developed many close friends as a result of her work here.

Mrs. Walter is survived by her son, J. Daniel; and daughter-in-law, Cheryl of Urbana; granddaughter, Louise Walter of Durham; and two nieces, Marilyn Payne and Nina Davis. She was preceded in death by her parents and husband Joseph in 2004. Services will be held in the funeral home which bears her name, WALTER-SCHOEDINGER FUNERAL HOME, 642 South Main Street, Urbana, at 2:00 PM Tuesday, August 1, 2006 with visitation from 12 noon until the service. Interment will follow at Oak Dale Cemetery, Urbana.

Remembrance in her name may be made to the Champaign County Library, 1060 Scioto Street, Urbana, Ohio 43078.