Walker, Curtis M. Bloomington, MN and Naples, FL. Died on June 18, 2020, after an 18 month battle with pancreatic cancer. Reunited with Jan, his bride of 61 years. Preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Arthur Walker and Esther Walker. Survived by his children, Steve, Jeff (Terri), Wendy, Kelley, Kathey Lindahl (Mike), Patrick; grand children Shannon, Jeremy, Christopher, Ryan, Mike, Amanda, Meghan, Kristen, Erin, Riley, Katie, Connor, Abbie, Kirby, Murphy, Griffin, Sean, Keegan and Lauren; eleven great grand children; his brother Stuart (Cathy) of Bloomington, MN, and many nieces, nephews and friends, especially Bill W., a long term friend. Curt grew up in St. Paul, graduating from St. Thomas Academy and married Jan in 1953. He received an undergraduate degree in Hotel Sales and Management from Michigan State University and later earned a Masters in Food Science from the U of M. Early in his career he worked in the hotel industry including being director of sales for the Radisson and Leamington Hotels in downtown Minneapolis. Later he moved into golf course management, first at Ft. Snelling Golf in 1979 and then Brockway Golf Course in Rosemont. His greatest achievement in golf was to take over as Director of the National Golf Course Owners Association, providing visionary leadership that grew the organization. The NGCOA, which is now a thriving organization serving thousands of golf courses, later recognized his pivotal involvement with a special award. Curt also served for over 20 years as the Secretary of the Midwest Golf Course Owners Association, working tirelessly on behalf of the owners and managers right up until December of 2019 and helped found the Golf Course Management Program at UW-Stout State where he taught. Curt was extremely proud of his family and was always ready and willing to lend them his advice. There will be no service as Dad felt the family reunion in March of 2019, where we all gathered to fete him, was the "ultimate send off". He didn't want any further fuss once he passed as he was proud to say that it couldn't be topped, especially since he'd been able to attend his own celebration of life. The family requests any memorials be directed to Our Lady of Peace Hospice in St. Paul at: ourladyofpeacemn.org/memorial-gifts

Published on July 5, 2020