July 22 1942 March 23 2022
Obituary Paid obituary with picture Times Argus Montpelier, VT On Wednesday, March 23, 2022, Stephen C. Walke, Jr, 79, passed away after a long and tenacious battle with cancer. Stephen, or “Steamer” as he was known to many, was a longtime resident of Montpelier, Vermont where he served as an attorney, a City Council member, and a regular patron of the Coffee Corner. He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and lived in various parts of the Southeast and Northeast, as the son of an Episcopal priest. After many years in Vermont, his Southern accent surfaced only in conversation with family from Virginia or North Carolina. He was educated at Saint Andrew’s School in Middletown, Delaware, where he was captain of the crew, Yale University, George Mason University, and the University of Virginia School of Law. Steamer was an accomplished sailor and a veteran of the United States Coast Guard. A resourceful handyman, he always had several projects in the works, from wooden bookshelves to a rustic Adirondack lean-to. He was an avid reader; his favorite books were sea stories and who-dunits. He was always ready for a game of bridge, playing up until two days before his death. Steamer loved the family camp on Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks, where he could put all of his enthusiasm to work. His loved ones could always find him in a crowd; he was a big guy with a big smile and a big heart who embraced and built community. He was a devoted member of the congregation of Christ Episcopal Church, where he sang in the choir and held several leadership roles. He volunteered as a coach for his children’s sports teams, and he was a Cub Scout leader. Throughout his life, he was a reliable and vocal supporter of the sports teams upon which his children and grandchildren played, and in the intervening years, he was a regular at Montpelier sporting events cheering on the local side. Steamer touched many who came to know him. He paid attention to all he met, across a wide variety of ages and livelihoods, taking a genuine interest in their lives and enjoying their company with empathy and acceptance. Casual encounters led to enduring relationships with everyone from the seasonal butcher in Raquette Lake to many of the nursing staff at CVMC. He had a strong moral compass, and an innate instinct on how to help others, by practical acts of service and a calm and patient presence for friends and family in times of upheaval and need. He would regale you with well-worn jokes, gentle teasing, funny anecdotes, and occasional impromptu snatches of semi-relevant show tunes. Steamer, a beloved spouse, father, and grandfather, is survived by his wife, Judy Warriner Walke, his two children, Peter Walke and Elisabeth Kahn, his four grandchildren, Everett and Carregan Walke and Iris and Asher Kahn, his two sisters Mary Bowman and Marion Goethals, and a large extended family. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 9, 2022 at 10:30am at Christ Episcopal Church on State Street in Montpelier. Read more
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Stephen Condict Walke July 22 1942 March 23 2022.
Death notice for the town of: Castleton, state: Vermont