My dear, sweet Ian Guy Walker, whom I loved, died Friday, April 28, 2017 while doing what he loved. He was born "in the south, just not this south," in Westciff-on-Sea, England to Winifred and Eric Walker on February 3, 1948.
Ian cherished and appreciated the time he spent with friends on the golf course. It is not without irony that he took his last breath on his favorite golf course making a perfect drive from the 16th tee. Ian was often called "The Most Interesting Man in the World" as much for his good looks as for his talents. He was a bon vivant, a consummate host, a master of words and a "Beau Brummell" of our time. He was a chef, jazz musician, fly fisherman, pool shark, artist, solver of cryptic puzzles and a slow methodical eater. He was a gentle man who could turn a phrase, tell a tall tale, and he was my very own poet Laureate. He ordered his Gin Martini "very well shaken with a twist" and followed by, "I'll have the other half" in his alluring British accent.
Ian's professional career in insurance took him from London, where he “cut his teeth at Lloyds of London," to Boston and Chicago. After a near fatal accident, he decided the countryside of West Virginia would be a perfect spot to begin his second life while staying on the Chicago Insurance Board of Overseers. The accident ended his ability to participate in the annual Chicago Yacht Club race to Mackinac, known as, “The Mac,” where he was part of the winning crew of Heritage, a 63-foot sloop. While living in West Virginia, Ian produced and starred in his own cooking show called "Dinner at Heron Lodge." Later, he traded the competition of sailing for the thrill of driving in his Indian Chief and Aston Martin DB9.
Ian loved his life more than most.
Ian Guy Walker will be terribly missed by me, his wife, Kathleen Elsa Walker of Atlanta, GA and my children who called him "Faux Pa": Laura Mitchell Bollman, her husband, Preston Cockey, and child, Hamish, of Atlanta and my son, Mark Brooks Bollman, IV and Alyssa Sullivan of New York, NY.
He is survived by his beloved three sisters, Jacky and her husband, Bill Keith, of Duxbury, MA; Jill and her husband, Rick Potash, of Fort Meyers, FL; Carolyn and her husband, Dickie Sullivan, of Nashville, TN; and nephews Michael Assad, Jr. of Mashpee, MA and Peter Garran of Duxbury, MA; as well as several cousins in England.
Life will not be the same.
A fitting memorial celebration of his life will be organized in the coming months. Donations in his honor can be made to the Ovarian Cancer Institute where was an avid advocate and Chairman of the Board: http://ovariancancerinstitute.org/
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