Gordon Frederick Walter, O.P., Death, 1976-01-10
Scope and Contents
This collection contains personal materials relating to friars after they have left the order, passed away, or transferred to another province. Each friar's file contents are mostly contain to their novitiate records, canonical assignments, historically important correspondence, and a small number of personal items if desired upon their passing. Within the broader collection, each Friar is sorted as a series.
Friars with particuarly substantial historically important papers or items outside of the scope of the Personal Files Collection are moved to a dedicated collection under their name.
This collection is a work in progress and any use of these files requires the explicit permission of the Provincial. Contact the Archivist to discuss access or inquire about friars that may not been cataloged yet.
Dates
- Creation: Death, 1976-01-10
Conditions Governing Access
Requires explicit permission from Provincial to access any records. Contact the Archivist for more information.
For comprehensive lists and records of individuals who left the order or transferred to other provinces, researchers must contact the archivist. Access to such materials may be restricted and is subject to privacy considerations and organizational policy.
Conditions Governing Use
Can only be accessed upon written permission of the Provincial. Contact the Archivist for further details.
Biographical / Historical
Gordon Franklin Walter was born July 3, 1903, in Idaho Springs, Colorado, where he received his early education at the public primary and secondary schools and his religious training in the Presbyterian tradition. In 1918, he was baptized in the Catholic faith. After graduation in 1926 from the University of Colorado iii Boulder with a Bachelor of Law degree, he joined a law partnership in Cripple Creek, Colorado, and was elected to membership in the American Bar Association.
Contact with the Dominican community in Denver sparked his interest in the Order and led him to take a tutorial program in Latin at Holy Cross Abbey School in Canon City, Colorado, in preparation for entering the novitiate at St. Rose Priory in Springfield, Kentucky. After first profession on August 16, 1932. Brother Frederick Walter pursued philosophical studies at the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois, and theological studies at St. Joseph's Priory in Somerset, Ohio, and the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., where he was ordained on June 16, 1938.
During his preparation for the priesthood and as a priest, Father Walter continued his study of civil law. He received his Master of Law degree from Catholic University of America in 1939 and the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Colorado in 1968. He also pursued graduate studies in education at the University of Denver and at De Paul University in Chicago, Illinois.
Father Walter's first assignment was to the faculty of Aquinas High School in Columbus, Ohio, where he taught until he joined the new Province of St. Albert the Great in 1941 and moved to Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois. He served Fenwick as a faculty member until 1955 and also as principal from 1946 to 1955. From 1955 until 1966, he taught at Edgewood High School in Madison, Wisconsin.
In 1966, Father Walter was assigned to Houston as Catholic chaplain at Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. In 1971, he moved to St. Joseph Parish in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, as an associate pastor. During the summer of 1972, he suffered a severe stroke and had to be hospitalized at Marian Manor Nursing Home in Lebanon, Kentucky, where he remained until his death on January 10, 1976. Following funeral services at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, he was buried in the Dominican plot in All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines, Illinois.
Extent
From the Collection: 100 Linear Feet (30 File Cabinets )
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
From the Collection: Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Archives of the Province of St. Albert the Great, U.S.A. Repository
1910 S. Ashland Ave
Chicago Illinois 60608 United States
3122430011
archivist@opcentral.org