Ione JoAnne Walker departed earth for Heaven on March 31, 2015, to join others in the presence of God.
Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Voelker, gave her the opportunity to pursue life in St. Ann, Wisconsin, on the 11th day of November, 1924. Her sisters were Lillian and Florentine and a brother, Merle. Her sisters are deceased, and her brother lives in Kiel, Wisconsin. She has nephews and nieces in California, Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin.
Ione met her husband, Dallas Ray Walker, on a blind date on Christmas Day, 1957, aboard the attack aircraft carrier the USS Bennington CVA-20. The ship was anchored in San Diego Harbor for the Christmas holidays. Dallas was the Commanding Officer of the Marine Detachment aboard the ship for the Security of the Nuclear Weapon Capability. Ione was employed at the Navel Electronica Laboratory in Point Loma, California.
She was a member of a team assessing the feasibility of submarines being maneuvered under the ice in the Arctic Ocean.
On their first date, Dallas asked Ione if she would marry him. Her reply, “Dallas, I will have to think about that.” Two weeks later, her response, “Yes, but my parents and I are Catholic and they go to church seven days a week. They are not hung up about it but that is who we are and our children will have to be reared in the Catholic faith and educated in Catholic schools.” The next Sunday Dallas began going to Catholic Mass and was an usher at St. Jude’s for several years. They were married on August 30, 1958.
Their sons, Dwight Dallas and Rambridge Ray graduated from Marist High School.
They maneuvered through life from Kaneohe, Hawaii, First Marine Brigade; to Richmond, Virginia, MCRS and University of Richmond; to Quantico, Virginia, Command and Staff College; to San Diego, California, 4th Marines-Vietnam, and 1st Recruit Training Bn-MCRD; to Norman, Oklahoma, NROTC University of Oklahoma; to Newport, Rhode Island, Nations Top Navel War College; to Western Pacific, 9th Marines-Okinawa; to Dunwoody, Georgia, 6th MCD; and to Potomac, Maryland, HQMC.
Ione was an artist, an ice skater, a golfer and an exemplary mom to our sons, Dwight and Ray.
A memorial service is planned for November 2015.