Dr. James Wakefield Walker's Obituary
Dr. James Wakefield Walker, 87, of Germantown, Tennessee died Friday, July 18, 2014 at his home after a long illness with his loving family by his side. Dr. Walker was a Board Certified Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon and a Diplomate to the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee October 8, 1926 to Dr. William White Walker, Sr. and Mrs. Roberta B. Walker. He attended Snowden Elementary and graduated high school from Columbia Military Academy. After graduation he attended U.T. at Knoxville and Southwestern at Memphis (Rhodes College). He then joined the Army and was stationed in Alabama attending both the University of Alabama and Auburn University. He was a World War II Veteran stationed in Austria and Germany until the end of the war. He then returned home and attended Medical School graduating from the University of Tennessee Medical School with honors in 1953. He interned at John Gaston Hospital in Memphis in 1954 and did his General Surgery Residency in Jackson, Mississippi until 1957 prior to St. Louis University for Plastic Surgery until 1959. He received his Board Certification in 1961 from the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He helped to form the Plastic Surgery Department at the University of Tennessee Memphis. He was also on the Teaching Staff at the University of Tennessee for Plastic Surgery and also taught Physiology there. He was in private practice for twenty-five years before retiring and joining the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in1983 as a physician and surgeon in the Spinal Cord Injury Service until his retirement in 2009. While in private practice he was on the Active Staff at Baptist Memorial Hospital and was on the consulting staff at St. Joseph, Methodist, St. Francis, LeBonheur and Doctor’s Hospitals. He was an inventor, accomplished artist and musician. During his medical career he also had numerous published articles. He is survived by his wife of almost 48 years, Mary Elizabeth “Bettye” Brannon Walker. He was preceded in death by his sons James W. Walker, Jr. and Brett W. Walker. He leaves his daughters Diana (Mike) “Dee Dee” Walker Miller and Christie (Guy) Walker Payne, his grandchildren Michael W. Miller, Jr., Brandon W. Miller, Kellsey (Justin) Miller McDermott, Stephanie (Nic) Payne Nichopoulos, Allyson N. Payne, Claire B. Payne and his great-grandchildren Wyatt Wakefield Miller, Karlin Elizabeth McDermott and Hunter Constantine Nichopoulos. Private family services and burial were held Thursday, July 24, 2014 at Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery. The family requests that any memorials be sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN.
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