George S. Walker, O.S.A.

1882 – 1974 (September 14)

George Solomon Walker was born in Cambridge, New York, on March 21, 1882, one of seven children of Solomon Walker and Mary Ann Buckley. He was baptized on September 29, 1892 by Father Thomas Field, O.S. A. at Saint Joseph Church, Greenwich, New York. He entered the novitiate at Villanova on July 5, 1906, and professed simple vows on July 5, 1907. He was sent to Rome for studies at Saint Monica’s College in 1908 and made solemn profession there on October 19, 1910. He was ordained in Rome by Cardinal Ceppetelli on July 25, 1913.

After his return from Rome that same year, as World War I was about to break out, he was named Rector of Postulants at Villanova. In 1915, he was appointed Master of Professed and Novices until 1918 when he became Rector of the Mission Band, a post he held until 1934. In his day he held a nation-wide reputation as preacher.

In September, 1934, Father Walker was named prior and pastor of Saint Augustine’s in Troy, N.Y., and it was here that his heart remained. He was also pastor and prior in several other parishes, including Saint Laurence, Lawrence, MA beginning in 1941; Immaculate Conception, Hoosick Falls, NY beginning in 1947; and Saint Joseph, Greenwich, NY in 1953.

From 1956 to 1962 he served as Prior at Good Counsel Novitiate, New Hamburg. In 1962 he was transferred to Saint Nicholas in the Bronx where he was assistant pastor until his retirement due to failing health and blindness.

The week before his death he was transferred to Rosemont Manor and here he ended his labors, at the age of 92, September 14, 1974. At the time of his death he had been the oldest member of the Province. 

The Funeral Mass was offered at Villanova on September 17th. The body was then taken to Saint Nicholas of Toletine the following day for a second Mass, and finally to Saint Augustine, Troy, where the Mass of Christian Burial was offered on September 19th. Father Walker was buried, at his request, in the Community Plot of Saint John’s Cemetery, Troy.

Father Walker was best known as a preacher and missioner. Gifted with a powerfully resonant voice and an easy flow of language and retentive memory, he became well-known and much sought after in pulpits throughout the country.