In Memoriam
Stephen C. Walke, Jr.
Stephen “Steamer” Walke
Freshman year
Stephen C. Walke, Jr., known as “Steamer,” died on March 23, 2022 as reported by his Yale (Saybrook) roommate Al Rossiter ’64.
Steamer was born in Chattanooga TN on July 22, 1942. He was a graduate of St. Andrew’s School in Middletown DE and matriculated at Yale in 1960 with the Class of 1964. He left Yale during his senior year to join the Coast Guard during the Vietnam War.
After his military service he enrolled in George Mason College in Fairfax VA, which was the Northern Virginia branch of the University of Virginia at that time. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1970. He went on to earn his J.D. degree at the University of Virginia Law School in 1973.
On December 27, 1970 while in law school, he married Judy Rutter Warriner, a graduate of Miss Porter’s School and Smith College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She spent her junior year at the University of Florence in Italy.
After receiving his law degree in 1973, Steamer established a civil-law practice, Paterson & Walke P.C., in Montpelier VT, where he practiced for the rest of his legal career.
His wife Judy received her MBA from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in 1977, after which she served as production manager and business consultant at the Digital Equipment Corporation for fifteen years, followed by twenty-four years as program consultant and senior associate at The Vermont Leadership Institute.
Obituary
The Barre Montpelier Times Argus
March 29, 2022
Stephen Walke
Obituary photo
Stephen C. Walke Jr. MONTPELIER — 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. He went on to 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-dun-its. 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 on 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. Those wishing to express online condolences may do so at www.guareandsons.com.