Obituary for Terry Walker
Sunrise: November 17, 1950 - Sunset: August 30, 2019
Terry Renee Walker was born on November 17, 1950 to Grace and Richard Walker. The second of five siblings, they lived first on Friendship Place in Montclair, N.J., before moving five years later to their home at 139 High Street, also in Montclair.
A Montclairian in her youth, Terry attended Nishuane Elementary School, Hillside Middle School and graduated from Montclair High School in 1967.
After graduation, Terry attended and graduated from Drake Business School, where she was trained as a secretary, while simultaneously working at the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Montclair. She would later go onto work as a secretary for Schering-Plough in Kenilworth for more than a decade.
Terry later moved to East Orange to live and also began working as a secretary at Merck after it acquired Schering-Plough. She also worked for Novartis in East Hanover, N.J. for a short time before beginning her career at AT&T’s World Headquarters in Basking Ridge, NJ in 1989.
Terry received the biggest blessing of her life when she gave birth to her son, Michael Christopher in 1983. Heroically working as a single mother, Terry guided Michael through mostly Catholic schools in East Orange during his youth, ultimately shaping him into a student at Cicely Tyson School of Performing Arts, also in East Orange.
Terry remained at AT&T during much of Michael’s young life, ultimately leaving the company in 2005 during corporate downsizing. Ms. Walker retired from AT&T with a full pension and at times worked part time for TMR corporation of Cedar Knolls, N.J., where she conducted surveys in the evenings.
An audiophile and extreme fan of the late artist Prince, Terry enjoyed collecting every album and side project worked on by his royal funkiness and would attend every concert he performed when he was in the Tri-State area. One of Terry’s favorite moments occurred in 2000 when she and Michael traveled to Minnesota to tour Paisley Park Studios. In recent times, Terry could often be found asking Siri to play Prince songs all hours of the day.
A diehard New York Jets fan since the days of Broadway Joe Namath, every Fall was spent lamenting the plight of her Jets, who she followed every week.
Terry departed this life on Aug. 30, 2019 at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, New Jersey after a long battle with diabetes and complications related to the disease – she was 68. Terry was predeceased by her mother Grace, her father Richard and sister Lisa. She is survived by her son Michael and three siblings: Richard, Jr. Steven and Kim (Mitchell) as well as a niece Stasia Mitchell and nephew Bryce Amir Walker.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes.org, would be appreciated
Terry Renee Walker was born on November 17, 1950 to Grace and Richard Walker. The second of five siblings, they lived first on Friendship Place in Montclair, N.J., before moving five years later to their home at 139 High Street, also in Montclair.
A Montclairian in her youth, Terry attended Nishuane Elementary School, Hillside Middle School and graduated from Montclair High School in 1967.
After graduation, Terry attended and graduated from Drake Business School, where she was trained as a secretary, while simultaneously working at the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Montclair. She would later go onto work as a secretary for Schering-Plough in Kenilworth for more than a decade.
Terry later moved to East Orange to live and also began working as a secretary at Merck after it acquired Schering-Plough. She also worked for Novartis in East Hanover, N.J. for a short time before beginning her career at AT&T’s World Headquarters in Basking Ridge, NJ in 1989.
Terry received the biggest blessing of her life when she gave birth to her son, Michael Christopher in 1983. Heroically working as a single mother, Terry guided Michael through mostly Catholic schools in East Orange during his youth, ultimately shaping him into a student at Cicely Tyson School of Performing Arts, also in East Orange.
Terry remained at AT&T during much of Michael’s young life, ultimately leaving the company in 2005 during corporate downsizing. Ms. Walker retired from AT&T with a full pension and at times worked part time for TMR corporation of Cedar Knolls, N.J., where she conducted surveys in the evenings.
An audiophile and extreme fan of the late artist Prince, Terry enjoyed collecting every album and side project worked on by his royal funkiness and would attend every concert he performed when he was in the Tri-State area. One of Terry’s favorite moments occurred in 2000 when she and Michael traveled to Minnesota to tour Paisley Park Studios. In recent times, Terry could often be found asking Siri to play Prince songs all hours of the day.
A diehard New York Jets fan since the days of Broadway Joe Namath, every Fall was spent lamenting the plight of her Jets, who she followed every week.
Terry departed this life on Aug. 30, 2019 at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, New Jersey after a long battle with diabetes and complications related to the disease – she was 68. Terry was predeceased by her mother Grace, her father Richard and sister Lisa. She is survived by her son Michael and three siblings: Richard, Jr. Steven and Kim (Mitchell) as well as a niece Stasia Mitchell and nephew Bryce Amir Walker.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes.org, would be appreciated