Worthen Allen Walls

Worthen Allen Walls

Captain, USN (Ret.)

Captain Allen Walls, 95, passed away abruptly on October 1, 2017, and will be laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, February 7, 2018. A service will be held at the Fort Myer Old Post Chapel at 1:00 p.m. before the procession to the burial site.
Captain Walls was a native of Arkansas. He entered the Navy in 1942 and initially was a Naval aviator assigned to several patrol squadrons operating PBY planes, first in the Aleutian Islands, then in the Southwest Pacific area, and finally as part of the military occupation of Japan.
After World War II Captain Walls became an officer in the Civil Engineer Corps of the Navy. He received a bachelor degree in civil engineering from the University of Arkansas and master and doctorate degrees in civil engineering from the University of Illinois. During the Korean War he was in charge of construction of fleet support facilities at Yokosuka, Japan. He constructed facilities for the US Air Force in Spain under the Spanish Bases program.
In the Vietnam War Captain Walls commanded a Seabee Battalion constructing facilities for the US Marine Corps in Chulai and Danang, Vietnam. He was a staff officer for the Defense Atomic Support Agency. He was the commanding officer of the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory in Port Hueneme, CA, when he retired in 1972.
The military decorations for Captain Walls include the Bronze Star with combat distinguishing device, Navy Commendation Medal with gold star, Navy Unit Commendation Medal, and various campaign and service medals. He was a Fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Subsequent to his retirement, Captain Walls worked more than ten years for the Ralph M. Parsons Company of Los Angeles, CA, in various management positions on major civil engineering projects. These included management of design and construction of facilities for the US Postal Service throughout the United States, improvement of the Northeast Corridor railway facilities from Washington to Boston, and management of the construction of the Baltimore subway system. For three years prior to his retirement from Parsons in 1985, Captain Walls was Director of Program Control for design and construction of Madinat Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah, a multibillion dollar program for establishing a new industrial city for a population of 150,000 in Saudi Arabia.
Captain Walls was predeceased by wives Aileen Stephens Walls (died 1980) and Frances Moose Walls (died 2016). Survivors include two daughters, Betty Walls Dean (Larry) of Manassas, VA, and Jeanie Walls Knigin of New York City, and three stepdaughters, Dennis Patricia Kelly (Louis) of Greensboro, NC, Paula Frances of Greensboro, NC, and Jesse Keller Wright of Richmond, VA, as well as a large and loving extended family. He inspired us with his zeal for life, passion for learning and commitment to ideals.

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