Irene Mattingly Walker

Irene Mattingly Walker passed away peacefully after a long, full life and a short illness. Irene was born and raised in the town of Ironton in southeastern Missouri, the daughter of George Everestus Mattingly, a civil engineer, and Irene Marshall Mattingly, a homemaker who raised eight children while her husband traveled the state of Missouri working for the Missouri Highway Department and the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Irene was fortunate to grow up with three half-siblings: Tom, Florence, and Mary; and four full siblings: Elizabeth, George, Bill, and Jane. After graduating from the Ursuline Academy in Acadia, Missouri, she attended Saint Louis University, earning a B.S. in Radiological Technology while working full-time in the x-ray department at Firmin Desloge Hospital. Her brother George traveled to the southwestern United States and during a telephone call while passing through Albuquerque, he told her that he thought she might like it. At Firmin Desloge, she was acquainted with a physician whose uncle ran a clinic in Albuquerque. He arranged for her to receive an employment offer and a short while later she moved to Albuquerque and worked for several years at the Lovelace Clinic. She met George Walker, a law student who was also from southeastern Missouri, on a blind date and later that year, after attending picnics and law school functions together, they were married. Her radiological experience eventually led to a job at Sandia National Laboratories where she worked until shortly before the birth of her first child. She and George had five children, born within seven years. Irene was talented at sketching and watercolor, loved to read a good book when she had the time, and had an uncanny knack for entertaining toddlers, whether her children or her grandchildren. She was a prolific letter writer. Irene is survived by her children: William George Walker, Martha Susan Walker Gonzales, Alice Irene Walker, Judith Marie Walker Bruesch, and Thomas Dwight Walker; by her eight grandchildren: Ian Walker Cady, Benjamin David Cady, Susan Rose Cady, Zachary Walker Hoffman, Nigel Walker Hoffman, Jacob van Heijenoort Walker, Noah Thomas Walker, and Grace Elizabeth Walker; by her children-in-law: Joshua Hoffman, Laure van Heijenoort, Gordon Bruesch, and Marshall Gonzales; by her sister Jane Cataldo; and by numerous nieces and nephews. A special thank you to her long-time caregiver and friend, Diana Carrillo.

Irene Mattingly Walker

May 8, 2014 - May 23, 2014