VISTA: Remembering Ernest A. "Ernie" Walker

By KATHY DAY - For the North County Times | Monday, April 14, 2008 5:47 PM PDT ∞

VISTA ---- Ernest A. "Ernie" Walker was "just a good ol' farm boy," his daughter Jeannine Gallacher said Monday.

Walker, who spent the last 30 years as a live-in caretaker at Vista's Antique Gas Steam Engine Museum, died Sunday, March 30, 2008, at the age of 88.

The Friday before he died, he'd been out dancing, his daughter said. On Saturday he attended evening Mass at his church.

However, relatives found him in his chair at his home on Sunday, dead from what was likely a massive heart attack, his daughter said.

"He'd always told me that if he died on the dance floor, that would be a good way to go out," Gallacher said. He danced regularly "with his lady friend" at events hosted by the North County Singles and the Vista Elks Club.

Born in Mt. Angel, Ore., Walker was raised on a small farm and "spied his first wife as she was picking hops on his farm when she was 14," Gallacher said.

They married when she was 18, and the couple moved with their five children to San Diego in 1953.

The couple later divorced and he remarried only to be divorced again, his daughter said.

After moving to San Diego, Walker worked as a heavy equipment machinist on boats in the harbor and later at Nelson & Sloan on large trucks.

"He was very meticulous ---- kinda slow, but he always got things done perfectly," Gallacher said.

After Walker retired, he joined the gas and steam engine museum while still living in San Diego. He was hired as a caretaker in the mid 1980s.

Rod Groenewold, director of the museum, said Walker "was the oldest in age but the youngest in outlook" of those who volunteered at the 55-acre museum, which is home to a collection of farm equipment from the 1849-1949 era and an Early California demonstration farm.

Walker was the museum's master mechanic and designed a lot of its equipment, Groenewold said.

"I think some of it only worked for him," his daughter said.

A very dedicated employee, Walker "always came across as crotchety," Groenewold said, but added, "Ernie really liked kids when he thought nobody was watching."

Gallacher said her dad was "a yup-and-nope guy who didn't show his emotions, but he showed them by the things he did."

His love of farming stayed with him. He had a beautiful rose garden at his San Diego home and later tended to his vegetable garden at the museum, she said.

"After a while, we wouldn't leave because he had his chores to do," she added.

Her dad was always one for a good joke, especially corny ones, and for being a bit ornery, she said.

"He would grade the dirt roads before the shows and lay in wait for the first tractor that messed up his roads," Gallacher said.

Other times, while watering down the dirt with the museum's water tanker, he would squirt people, she said.

At last week's memorial service, Groenewold said, "We asked how many people had been squirted by Ernie."

Lots of hands went up, he added. "We'd always conjectured that it was on purpose, but we could never catch him."

The museum has posted a tribute page to Walker, its 2,356th member, at www.agsem.com/walkere.html, and the family suggested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the museum in his name.

Ernie Walker is survived by his two sons, Albert and Richard; three daughters, Jeannine Gallacher, Barbara Watterson and Claudia Woodworth; two sisters, Shirley Equall and Lorraine Lulay; six grandchildren; and three great grandchildren.