88, Galesburg, died May 1, 2014 at Seminary Manor. She was born October 16, 1925 at Cottage Hospital in Galesburg because the family home was under construction. She was the first child of Emil Gotthard Adolphson and Helen McCulloch Adolphson. The other 3 children were born at home on N. Henderson Street. Emil, her dad, was a machinist for the CB & Q Railroad in Galesburg. Alice was a member of First Lutheran Church.
Alice went to Galesburg schools. At Galesburg High School she played trombone in the marching band. Her sister Rose Anne played flute in the band. In the 1940’s football games were played at Lombard Field. Because it was wartime gas was rationed, so all the band members walked to the game and home again while carrying their instruments. Alice graduated from Galesburg High School in 1943.
Next, she attended college and lived in a sorority house at the University of Illinois. At the time her letters to her then boyfriend, Robert Walker, indicate that she missed him very much and wanted to see him. He was attending college at Bradley University in Peoria. She encouraged him to do well in his classes, but even more, she wanted to be with him. She also attended Augustana College in Rock Island for a time. However, before graduating she left college and returned home to Galesburg to work at the bank. Meanwhile, Robert was drafted and went to Europe to fight in WWII. He came back safely and was honorably discharged on Dec. 22, 1945. He came back home to Galesburg, and he and Alice met up again after the war. They were married at First Lutheran Church on July 3, 1948.
They first lived in Galesburg where they had 2 children. Then Robert got a job in St. Louis, Missouri, where they had 2 more children. Alice was down- to- earth and practical, while Robert, though he worked hard to provide for his family, was more of a day-dreamer. Once he wanted to sell Esther Williams swimming pools in St. Louis. Alice encouraged him to stay with school equipment, especially because they had 4 young children to raise.
Robert nicknamed Alice “Alvis”. It was when Elvis Presley was so popular. She must have liked it because one year she gave him a big red valentine and signed it “Alvis”. Next, Robert’s work took them to Jefferson City, Missouri for one year and then they moved back to Galesburg. It was 1959.
Alice was happy to be back to Galesburg with her family and friends. She busied herself being treasurer, then secretary of the PTA at Bateman School, and she was a Cub Scout den mother. She liked working with kids. When her youngest child was 12, Alice went back to work fulltime. She landed a job as a teacher’s aide in Galesburg Public schools. She loved it.
Later she became a secretary at Admiral, and although she was happy to have the job, her heart wasn’t in her work. So, she started taking a few education classes at Knox College. She wanted to finish her college degree so she could become a teacher.
In 1976, Robert retired from business, and they relocated to Missouri. There she enrolled in Southwest Missouri State University. She also worked for Head Start in Missouri. When she finished her degree in Education she was offered a job at the high school in Cabool, Missouri, to be the teacher in a Special Education classroom. It combined Jr. High and High school students in a Special Day class in one room. Her principal said she could start if she would agree to take a few required Special Education classes to qualify her to teach this class. She did that, and taught there until she retired from teaching.
In 1993, she and Robert moved to Clarksville, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. Here they lived in town, and Alice substituted and made lots of friends. In October 2010, Robert had surgery on his right leg to improve circulation. In order to recuperate after surgery he went to a nursing home in nearby Louisiana, Missouri. Throughout this time, Alice drove to Louisiana every day to see Robert. She became rundown herself.
Finally, Robert agreed to move back to Galesburg if he could live with Alice in the same nursing home. In July 2011, they came back to Galesburg, to Seminary Manor. Every day, they ate together at a table for two in the dining room. It was so good for both of them to be together again. On March 1, 2014, Robert passed away. He had been her companion for 66 years, and this loss was hard for her. She kept trying, but began to decline.
She was preceded in death by two brothers, Harold L. “Pug” Adolphson, and Emil E. Adolphson, both formerly of Galesburg, and her husband, Robert Walker, formerly of Galesburg. She is survived by one sister, Rose Anne Saul, of Galesburg, and one sister-in-law, Caroline Templeton Adolphson, also of Galesburg. She is also survived by two sons, Mike Walker, of St. Paul, MN, Mark (and Lori) Walker of Dunlap, IL; and by two daughters, Mary Kay (and Charles) Baldwin of Antioch, CA and Melissa (and Craig) Morgan of Lisle, IL. She is further survived by seven grandchildren, many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. She was very well liked, and never failed to give her help to someone who needed it. We will miss her.
Visitation will be at 1:00 pm Saturday May 1, 2014, followed by services at 2:00 pm at Hinchliff-Pearson-West in Galesburg. Cremation will be accorded. Memorials may be made to First Lutheran Church, Galesburg, or St. Mary’s Square, Galesburg.
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