Robert James Walker

Robert James Walker, 88, died October 20, 2026, at Springs Ranch

Memory Care in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Bob was born June 20,

1938, in Wyocena Township, near Rio, Wisconsin, to Norris James and

Violet Lorraine (Skinner) Walker. After his father’s death in early 1944,

Bob went into foster care and eventually ended up in the home of

Orvall and Vera Myers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There he worked in

Mr. Myers’ radio and television shop, testing tubes and doing minor

repairs.

In 1956, after graduating from Rufus King High School, Bob passed his

18th birthday on the train to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for Army

Reserve basic training. After six months in training, he served 4 ½

years on active duty, with annual summer training at Fort McCoy in

Monroe County, Wisconsin. In the Army, Bob requested to be

assigned to the motor pool because of his knowledge of auto repair

but was instead assigned to be a clerk typist because he knew how

to type. In that position, he ran the orderly room for the officers.

After the Army, he spent many years as a professional auto

mechanic, working his way up to the parts department and

eventually as the service manager in a dealership. For a few years in

the early 1960s, he even had his own service station, which he

repeated in the mid-80s in Colorado Springs, CO. In the late 1970s

and early 1980s, he had his own electronic repair business and was

the service manager for Wurlitzer Music out of their Milwaukee office.

That position entailed traveling throughout the region repairing

Wurlitzer products (organs, pianos, and jukeboxes) in homes and

businesses.

Other jobs included a short stint as a Milwaukee police officer,

machine repair work at Power Products Company in Grafton,

Wisconsin, and at Master Lock in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. He also

worked at Evinrude Motors, Milwaukee Gear Company, Aldrich

Chemical Company in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, and finally he did

machine-building and design work for Tecumseh Products Company

in New Holstein, Wisconsin. Of all these jobs, repairing cars and trucks

was by far his favorite. As he put it, “There is no feeling like taking a

vehicle that someone else has given up on or abandoned and

restoring it to original condition.”

Bob married Marian Theresa Jisa on November 5, 1960, at Holy

Redeemer Catholic Church in Milwaukee. They had two children,

Mary Beth and Kenneth Robert Walker. Finding their small home on

North 66th Street in Milwaukee too small after the birth of their

second child, they moved to Grafton in 1969.

His first marriage eventually ended, and on September 14, 1985, Bob

married his high school sweetheart, Sally Locke, at First Lutheran

Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Early in their marriage, they

moved with Sally’s daughter, Brittany, to Wisconsin so that Bob could

take the job with Tecumseh Products in New Holstein. Following his

“retirement,” the couple moved back to Colorado Springs, and Bob

worked as a security guard at ENT (now Wings) Credit Union. With his

stepson’s help, he also remodeled their house, built a garage, and

tinkered with many cars, trucks, and other machines. He continued

living in Colorado Springs until his passing.

Bob is survived by his second wife, Sally; his sister Dorothy (Will)

Stauske of Cedarburg, Wisconsin; his daughter Mary (David) Rieder

of La Crosse, Wisconsin; and their children, Sarah (Kevin) Shumacher

of Robbinsdale, Minnesota, and Ben Rieder of La Crosse, his son

Ken (Debb) Walker of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and a

great-granddaughter, Millie (Amelia) Schumacher.

Additionally, Bob is survived by his daughter, Brittany (Jeff) Naujok of

Woodland Park, Colorado, and two grandchildren, Sally’s sons Mike

Johnson of Colorado Springs and Chip (Kathy) Johnson of Woodland

Park, three grandchildren and their spouses, and three

great-grandchildren, as well as a daughter, Lise Naegle (by proxy

through Sally), her two children, their spouses, and seven

great-grandchildren. He also leaves behind his beloved dog, Angel,

who misses him terribly.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, his foster parents, two

sisters, Betty (Lee) Whitney and Doris Trevino, his first wife, Marian

Walker, and his son-in-law, Conrad Naegle.

His Memorial of Life service will be held Saturday, November 7, 2026,

at 10:30 AM at Ascension Lutheran Church, 2505 North Circle Drive,

Colorado Springs, CO 80909. A small gathering with refreshments will

occur immediately after the service at the church. Per Bob’s wishes,

part of his ashes will be buried with Sally, and part with his father,

Norris, in the Ohio Cemetery, Rio, Wisconsin.

In parting, Sally said upon hearing of his passing that Bob “was a

man that always stuck true to his beliefs and values.” Indeed, he

was, and we all will miss him dearly