Impresario Walker’s Last Rites Worthy of His Career

Tommy Walker’s goodby Saturday was the kind of production he would have given himself.

The service at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove for the well-known showman, who died Monday while undergoing open-heart surgery, was filled with sounds from Olympic trumpeters, a choir and a Scottish bagpiper playing “Amazing Grace.”

Walker, a resident of Irvine who died at age 63 in Birmingham, Ala., was buried only a few yards from actor John Wayne’s grave at Pacific View Memorial Park in Newport Beach. White doves were released as a band played “Stars and Stripes Forever” and a military honor guard stood by.

At the morning service in the cathedral, as a tribute to the man who created this year’s Statue of Liberty fireworks celebration in New York Harbor and other extravaganzas, a 55-by-85-foot American flag rose before the more than 200 friends and relatives in attendance.

They also saw a short videotape of scenes from Walker’s past, including the 1955 grand opening ceremonies he staged at Disneyland. .

Letter From President

For the Summer Olympic games in 1984, Walker, as director of the opening and closing ceremonies, hired soloist Etta James to sing. On Saturday, James sang “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” and “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” For Ronald Reagan’s 1980 inaugural, Walker had red, white and blue skyrockets flaring as Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” played and lasers lit the sky. On Saturday, a letter from Reagan to Walker’s wife, Lucille, read to the audience, praising Walker’s “special genius for displaying patriotism and expressing the American spirit of independence.”

His career began during his undergraduate years at the University of Southern California, where he was known as “Tommy the Toe,” the band’s drum major who wore his band uniform over his football outfit. When an extra point was needed, Walker took off his drum major uniform and became the Trojans’ place-kicker.