Francis Eugene Walter – Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy – United States House of Repesentatives

Francis Eugene Walter was born in Easton, Pennsylvania in 1894, attended Easton schools, Lehigh University for 2 years, and received his BA degree from George Washington University in 1916. He received his LLB degree from Georgetown University Law School in 1919, and practiced law in Easton. He married May M. Doyle in 1925; they had two daughters. He was elected to his first of sixteen terms as Congressman in 1932, serving until his death in 1963. He also served briefly in the Naval Air Force during WWI and for 6 months in WWII. His two Congressional specialties were laws on immigration and investigations of un-American activities.

He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Courtesy of the U. S. House of Representatives:

Representative from Pennsylvania; born in , Northampton County, Pennsylvania, May 26, 1894; attended the public schools, preparatory school at Princeton, New Jersey, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and George Washington University and Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; during both World Wars served in the air service of the United States Navy; was admitted to the bar in 1919 and commenced practice in Easton, Pa.; director of the Broad Street Trust Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and of the Easton National Bank, Easton, Pennsylvania; solicitor of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1928-1933; delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1928; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third and to the fifteen succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1933, until his death in Washington, D.C., May 31, 1963; chairman, Committee on Un-American Activities (Eighty-fourth through Eighty-eighth Congresses); co-sponsor of the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952; interment in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

WALTER BURIED IN ARLINGTON WITH FULL MILITARY HONORS

WASHINGTON, June 4, 1963 – Representative Francis E. Walter was buried today in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors reflecting his 33 years as a Congressman and military service spanning two world wars.

The Democrat from Pennsylvania dies of leukemia Friday at the age of 69.

The funeral service was conducted at the Fort Myer, Virginia, Chapel by the Rev. John F. Steinbruck of Easton, Pennsylvania, pastor of Mr. Walter’s home church, St. John’s Lutheran.

Several hundred friends, political associated and members of Congress attended.  Lawrence O’Brien, a Presidential Assistant, represented the White House.  Among the others was former Governor David L. Lawrence of Pennsylvania.

There was a brief graveside service.  The mahogany-colored coffin, draped by the United States flag, was borne on a horse-drawn caisson escorted by a Navy ceremonial guard.  Mr. Walter served in World War I and World War II, from which he emerged as a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserve.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard