Community advocate remembered
Gary attorney hailed as mover, shaker in Northwest Indiana
Friends and colleagues Wednesday remembered Tony Walker of Munster as a mover and shaker in Gary and Northwest Indiana.
He died Wednesday morning of unknown causes leaving those who knew him in shock.
Walker was a friend and adviser to Gary Mayor Jerome Prince and was managing attorney of The Walker Law Group PC, overseeing offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Gary.
“Deanna and I are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend, Attorney Tony Walker. Tony loved the city of Gary and he will not be forgotten,” Prince said in a statement. He extended condolences to Walker’s family, wife Muna, and children Miles, Ethan and Brandon.
“Tony played an invaluable role in our Administration and his wise and honest counsel was always appreciated,” Prince said.
Walker was an attorney for more than 20 years. He clerked for Indiana Supreme Court Justice Robert D. Rucker, then of the Indiana Court of Appeals and later entered private practice with the firm Meyer, Lyles & Godshalk in Northwest Indiana.
Rucker remember Walker as a hardworking and personable. Rucker said he first met Walker when he was a young lawyer associated with his grandfather Henry Walker’s law firm in East Chicago. He said when he was serving on the Indiana Court of Appeals, Walker applied to be a clerk in his chambers and he hired him “without hesitation.”
“He was a very good legal researcher and writer. He was a very good advocate. I appreciated his input,” Rucker said. When he moved on to the Indiana Supreme Court, he appointed Walker to serve on the court’s lawyer disciplinary committee.
“He was just always very engaging. He had a wonderful personality. He just seemed to pull the office together with his demeanor in addition to his legal skills.
He fondly recalled Walker helping to coordinate a going away ceremony for Rucker when he retired from the court in 2017.
“I’m a pipe smoker. He presented me with a pipe that I still have. He remembered my pipe smoking. I’m so sorry to hear about Tony,” Rucker said.
Attorney Darnail Lyles of Gary, who also serves as adviser to Prince, said Walker was part of a fiveman team dedicated to the mayor and the city.
Lyles said he has known Walker for years and they had worked together many times prior to becoming part of Prince’s team of advisors.
“He was one of my closest friends. I am going to miss him. He was a great guy. He cared about the city of Gary immensely,” Lyles said.
He described Walker as a fun guy who would accompany him every Friday to Range USA where they would practice shoot.
“It’s a great loss for the city. It’s a great loss for his sons. It’s a great loss for his wife,” Lyles said.
Walker is the second member of the advisory team to die after the late Eric Reeves, who died Aug. 19, 2021.
“He was a mover and shaker in terms of politics and knowing who was how down state. It’s a loss for us as a political body working with the mayor,” Lyles said.
Lake County Democratic
“He was just always very engaging. He had a wonderful personality. He just seemed to pull the office together with his demeanor in addition to his legal skills.”
Party Chair James Wieser said Walker loved to get involved in local politics, not as a candidate but in supporting good candidates.
“He was great about that. He was always positive,” Wieser said.
Over the years Walker served on numerous boards and committees. Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed him to represent the First Congressional District on the State Board of Education. Walker is past chairman of the Urban League of Northwest Indiana Board of Directors and the Gary Public Library Board of Trustees. He is also a former member of the Gary Police Foundation and Second Chance Foundation boards.
Vanessa Allen McCloud, president and CEO of the Urban League of NWI, said Walker served on the board prior to her joining the organization and was instrumental in sharing information she needed to take the urban league to the next level.
“On behalf of the Urban League we send our heartfelt sympathies,” she said, adding Walker was a great person and very knowledgeable.
“I would say he was a mover and shaker, not just in Gary but in Northwest Indiana,” Allen McCloud said.
Walker previously had been chief of staff of Radio One Inc., a national broadcasting company targeting urban listeners, and chief operating officer and vice president of business and legal affairs for its gospel recording label, Music One. Walker presently served as the executive producer of several radio programs airing on WLTH Radio in Gary and hosted a weekly public affairs talk show for several years.
Marion Williams, owner of WLTH-AM 1370 in Gary and 10 other stations, said he has known Walker since he was young, having attended high school with Walker’s mother. He was very involved in the radio station before his law career began
to take off and he passed the baton back to Williams, who had previously run the station.
He said the pair bonded over a shared love of African American history.
“Many people don’t know that about Tony. He was a historian. For that reason he and I became very close,” Williams said. They often would have discussions about history in the U.S. and the whole African American experience in America.
“On several occasions he would come back to the station and share very vital information about that with the public,” Williams said. “He will be greatly missed. This is quite a shock.”
Arrangements are being handled by Smith Bizzell Warner Funeral Home in Gary.
— Indiana Supreme Court Justice Robert D. Rucker