Frank Houston Walters
Friday night, October 30th, marked the passing of committed and adoring husband, inspiring father, communications-industry trailblazer, and philosophizing fishing buddy, Frank Houston Walters. He was born in Atlanta, GA on August 29, 1929 to Richard Tillman and Ann Ursala Walters.
He died of congestive heart failure, holding the hand of his wife, LaDonna O'Neal Walters, in their home in The Woodlands, TX. Frank died peacefully, content and deeply satisfied with his 91 years on this Earth. The couple was surrounded by their children; Brenda Cunningham of The Woodlands, TX; Linda Shidler of Navasota, TX; Randy Walters of Terrell, TX; and Laurie Arivett of Dover, AR; along with spouses and other loved ones. The tight-knit group was overseen by shelves of photographs of multiple Walters' generations, including 10 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. Frank and LaDonna were faithful members of The First United Methodist Church of Rockwall, TX for over 35 years.
In his nearby home office hung his diploma from The University of Texas where he graduated from the School of Journalism with high honors in 1957 after serving as a staff sergeant in the United States Airforce during the Korean War. There is also a stack of affectionate messages written by his close friends and extended family from across the country and around the globe. Most are from former Texas Instruments' colleagues who spent exhausting hours brainstorming and executing the marketing strategies that introduced the world to the integrated circuit, the TI Calculator, and other leading-edge technologies that transformed our lives for the better. In the words of one admirer: "He helped build an industry." He worked for Texas Instruments for over 30 years as the Overall TI Market Communications Strategist and retired in the early 1990's.
This group of electronics industry warriors remained close even into retirement, gathering annually to catch bass, swap jokes, and retelling tales about plastic frogs bobbing in beer and marketing legend of a buffalo carcass rotting on a broken spit during a suburban backyard barbeque.
It was the challenges of Frank's youth that inspired his commitment to his family. He often spoke of how he longed for the closeness LaDonna shared with her kin. He would shake his head in wonder at how she would talk for hours with her siblings and mother about everyday matters like new recipes, work issues, and what exasperating things the children had done. But he wisely observed that the fabric of the family is knitted together with the love of faith and family. He had a lifelong search for truth which led him to study many religions and philosophies. In the last weeks of his life, he conveyed that he found truth and narrowed that truth down to one word. That word was LOVE. He told his family that love was found in Jesus Christ and that he believed in Him.
He would not hesitate to drop everything to drive hundreds of miles to set his admiring eyes on a squirming new grandbaby. Likewise, he remembered all of the people who took him in, nurtured him, and urged him on. That remembrance can be seen in all his family's commitment to their own loved ones, as well as their eagerness to reach out to the community to help others.
Frank elevated himself from his challenging origins by sheer force of will and a focus on his own vision to be the best he can be to serve his family, his country, his industry, and his community.
He would regularly single out one of his children from the havoc of the weekend to take him or her on a one-on-one fishing trip to the family cabin on Lake Texhoma. The fishing excursion would begin with cinnamon rolls burned in the decades-old cabin oven. Then father and child would tear across the
waves chasing flocks of seagulls feeding on schools of sand bass. It was between these cherished moments that Frank would impart his observations and life lessons. Many of those loving life lessons are shared with grandchildren and great grandchildren and anyone else through Frank's published compilation: Diving for Pearls---In Search of Deeper Wisdom.
Frank Walters' family is traced back to Jamestown and the Revolutionary War. His and LaDonna's marker will be placed near more than a dozen other Walters' markers in the Colfax Cemetery, in Van Zandt County, TX where his ancestors settled in the aftermath of The War Between the States.
Donations can be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in loving memory of his great niece, Madeline Wiles.
Frank Walters' star has burned out on this earth, but he provided a light that will shine on through many loving people for many years to come.