Staff Sgt. Johnnie A. Walker, wife Barbara and daughter Phelarn in a family portrait taken upon Phelarn’s high school graduation in 1982. SAYREVILLE — Barbara Walker has been the proud spokesman of her husband’s history of military service since his death over 20 years ago.
Staff Sgt. Johnnie A. Walker dropped out of high school to serve the United States in the Vietnam War. He was wounded in battle but continued to serve in active duty for 18 years. Due to a St. Louis fire, no records of his injury or time in Vietnam from 1966 to 1969 exist.
OnMarch 23, 1988, the staff sergeant died suddenly after completing a physical fitness test in Fort Knox, Ky.
Barbara Walker, 63, has been requesting the U.S. Military grant her husband a posthumous promotion and Purple Heart decoration ever since. She has sent letters to congressmen, the military and President Barack Obama, but received one rejection letter after another.
This May, Walker decided to “make lemonade out of lemons” and keep her husband’s memory alive by helping children continue their education. To accomplish that goal, she started her own nonprofit organization called Multicultural Grand Cotillion Scholarship Society Inc. Through the organization, Walker will host educational cotillions and annual fundraisers to provide funds for scholarships for New Jersey students.
Adeeply religious woman, Walker has experience directing cotillions for the Cathedral International Church in Perth Amboy. Bishop Donald Hilliard gave her the opportunity to host the events and to open the Joy in the City child care center in Perth Amboy.
“The center is still in operation, and sometimes I see the kids and say hello,” she said. “My grandson says, ‘They’re not your kids!’ but they will always be my kids. I always had a love for children.”
Her life’s dedication to helping the youth continues now as she serves as a lead teacher at Emma L. Arleth School’s before- and afterschool program (BASC). She has worked there for seven years alongside her daughter, Phelarn Curry.
In addition to her unwavering commitment to keeping her husband’s memory alive, Walker was further inspired to start her nonprofit organization after becoming gravely ill with lupus. Diagnosed in 2003, she was on dialysis for a lengthy period of time before doctors informed her that her heart was giving out. Fortunately, Curry was a perfect match and offered to donate her kidney.
“The doctor said that was rare because just because you’re related doesn’t mean you’re going to be a match,” Walker said. “I know God had more for me to do.”
The cotillions are a way to help young adults plan for college. A college education is something Walker’s husband, and his three high school friends, Larry Covington, Jasper Ellington and Elroy Wilson, who all died during the war, never got the chance to experience. Workshops at the cotillions cover everything from résumé writing to proper etiquette. In addition to the workshops, participating children also take part in ballroom-style dance.
Themoney raised during the cotillions and other fundraisers will fund the newly established SSG Johnnie A. Walker STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Scholarship. The scholarship will be awarded to 12 high school students from 12 different high schools throughout the state.
“We created the STEM scholarship to get his name out there and because so many children are falling behind in those areas,” Walker said.
Walker’s organization will accept 44 children of any culture or background to participate in the cotillion. It will be held on May 20 at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel. Registration for the cotillion will be held at the Raritan Bay Area YMCA, 365 New Brunswick Ave., Perth Amboy, on Dec. 10.
Extended open registration will continue, but parents need to call or email to register their children. Interested parents should call 732- 277-9576 or email [email protected].
Contact Deanna McLafferty at [email protected].