LOCKARD, Walter J. - b. December 6, 1926 - d. November 25, 2006

[Janet Harrington]

(Taken from the Flint Hills Express, Nov. 29, 2006, page 4)

Walter J. Lockard, 79, of Hamilton, Kan. died Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006 at Holiday Resort in Emporia, Kan.

The son of Walter A. and Ida Mae Akright Lockard was born Dec. 6, 1926 in El Dorado, Kan.  He grew up in Hamilton and Moline, Kan., attending Hamilton grade school and he graduated from Moline High School in 1944.  He graduated from Emporia State University with a degree in business in 1952.  Walter never married.

He served in the U. S. Navy for three years at the close of WWII.  He was an oil producer and was in business with his brother Wallace operating Lockard Petroleum.

His first love was Paleontology.  Walter was listed in Geology and Paleontology, Hamilton Quarry Area, Kan.; Kansas Geological Society, and Prehistoric Journal, a History of Life on Earth, regarding the discovery of a unique fish fossil he found on his property in 1964.

Walter was an amateur geologist and many of the fossils he found were donated and on display at Emporia State University's Johnson Geology Museum.

He is listed in the Kansas Academy of Science, Society and Vertebrae and Paleontology and Society of Paleontology.

He is survived by his sister-in-law Sharon Lockard of Liberty, Mo.; nephew Mark Lockard of Harrisonville, Mo.; three nieces, Kim Watson, Liberty, Mo., Amy Cole, Excelsior Springs, Mo., Cikndy Hamilton, Lawson, Mo.

He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Wallace Lockard.

Graveside services were held Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 1 p.m. at Janesville Cemetery, west of Hamilton, Kan.  Rev. Mark Demas officiated.

The family met with friends after the service at the United Methodist Church in Hamilton.

The family requests that memorial contributions be made to either the Hamilton Library or Hand In Hand Hospice.  Contributions can be sent to Wilson Funeral Home, P.O. Box 488, madison, KS 66860.