In the spring of 1968, Dr. Jess M. Walker was a professor in the Education Department of Western Michigan University. For a special activity, he invited the students in his teaching and learning class to come to his home and watch his 3-year-old learning to read. Several students attended that evening, and something special in that home was sensed by three friends, Sandy Wolfe, Marilyn Schuldt and me. We noticed a family love and special spirit present that seemed almost magnetic.
Weeks later, Sandy was asking some questions about religion when she learned that Dr. Walker was a member of the Church. He invited her to his home to meet with some young men who might help answer her concerns. She began the missionary discussions in the Walker home; a couple of weeks later Marilyn joined in, and two weeks after that I chose to participate.
Elders Norm Jarrett, Craig Nichols, Ted Baird, Robert Austin and others began to appear at the Walkers' home regularly to teach us. Within two months, the three investigators had grown to a group of 10 or 12 young adults who came weekly to enjoy dinner, sing songs and engage in discussions about gospel principles. The missionaries were delighted to accommodate the growing group of young adults that were interested in the Church. Baptisms began to occur almost monthly during the next two years, more than 20 young adults joined the Church thanks to the open hearts and home of the Walker family. The Walkers weekly fellowshipped the growing flock of new converts and investigators.
In Christmas 2000, I began putting together a scrapbook of stories submitted by the youth of 35 years ago. Each wrote of their families today, their conversion story and the influence the Walker family had in their lives. Each testified that their baptism was the beginning of a series of life-changing events for them. The four original missionaries serving in Kalamazoo in 1968 were contacted and reunited with some of their converts. Those converts are now Relief Society presidents, bishops and auxiliary leaders in wards across the country. Many of their children have served as full-time missionaries.
The positive influence of the Walker family will be felt eternally by countless others.
— Pat Hunt Passey, Granite 6th Ward, Sandy Utah Granite Stake