Services for Gene Bert Walker, 63, retired OU teacher, researcher and professor emeritus, are 10 a.m. today at St. Michael's Episcopal Church. He died Tuesday, Oct. 17, at his home.Students and family remember Walker as a honest, generous man who instilled in them the philosophy that they can make it in anything."He was an extremely honest man," said Karen Walker, his daughter. "He was loyal to friends and family. He was very generous as far as students were concerned. He taught wherever he went."Walker said her father was the kind of guy that accepted people at face value. She recalled a situation in her father's life when he was helpful to a person."A man dressed in overalls came into dad's office with an invention," Walker said. "He was looking for someone to give him a patent for his invention. Dad felt sorry for the man and helped him. Dad had assumed he was poor so he invited him to dinner. I remembered Dad telling us to dress down because the man was poor. It turned out the man was filthy rich, and they both became friends afterwards."Walker said her father was a perfectionist, and he taught his students to learn the basics and the background in order to be successful in life. She said that many of the students her father taught were very successful.Some of his students remember Walker as their teacher and mentor."He was my mentor in graduate school, and he was a wonderful man," said Allen Zahrai, electrical engineer of the National Weather Service. "He shaped a lot of students' future. He gave a lot of professional advice, and he was always there to help. I was heartbroken when he passed away. He will be sorely missed."Bill Cronenwett, professor emeritus and Walker's co-worker, said Walker was an excellent instructor that taught difficult courses."He redesigned the lab course to capstone design, and the lab is still running on the lines he designed it," Cronenwett said."He was a consultant with National Severe Storms Lab on Meteorology. He comprised theses for meteorology students who worked on engineering and mathematical problems."Cronenwett said Walker was known for flying to Hobbs, N.M., where the atmosphere was such that sailplanes could stay up for a long time. He said that Walker could fly for hundreds of miles."He was best known for his devotion to students," Cronenwett said. "He was a consultant for the National Storms Severe Lab in Norman. Graduate students worked there by doing weather problems for master and doctorate degrees, and Walker supervised weather for research. He was an excellent resource for meteorology and engineering."Walker attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees. He was a staff engineer at the Southwest Research Institute from 1964 to 1967, where he designed a communications antenna used on the Apollo spacecraft. After moving to Norman, he was a professor of electrical engineering at OU. He also served as associate dean of the College of Engineering from 1979 to 1992. He retired in 1994.Walker was a recipient of numerous awards for his pioneering research in acoustical radar, contributing to the fields of Doppler weather radar, artificial intelligence and lighting research for NASA, the National Science Foundation and organizations such as the Engineering Honorary Society, Eta Kappa Nu and Artificial Intelligence Institute.He was a part of other organizations, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Society of Professional Engineers. He was also a registered professional engineer in Oklahoma.Aside from school duties, Walker was remembered as an avid pilot and parachutist. He enjoyed snow skiing, racquetball, acrobatic shows and his dogs.Walker is survived by his wife, Pamela; his mother, Elaine Lawhon of San Angelo, Texas; two daughters, Karen Walker of Beachwood, N.J. and Janet M. Cochran of Pine, Colo.; and two sons, G. Bert Walker Jr. M.D. of San Diego, and Christopher A. Walker of Denver; and six grandchildren.Memorial contributions may be made to Father Flanagan's Boys Home, Boys Town, N.E. 68010, or to St. Micheal's Episcopal Church in Norman.
