Jackson Advocate

Walker Widow To Get More Than $200,000

Memphis - The widow of Dr. J. E. Walker, prominent Memphis businessman and political leader, will receive more than $200,000 from his estate in an agreement reached in the controversial will case in Chancery Court here last week.

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Mrs. Louise Walker Tarpley was the second wife of Dr. Walker, who was president of Universal Life Insurance Company and Tri-State Bank where he was slain July 28, 1959, by a man who was later committed to a mental hospital. Walker's widow is now married to Charles H. Tarpley, science teacher at Porter Junior High School.

The controversial will case was centered around Dr. Walker's grown children by a previous marriage--A. Macco Walker Sr. and Johnetta Walker Kelso who contested Mrs. Tarpley's suit to get a share of Dr. Walker's estate. The court ruled that Mrs. Tarpley should receive one-third of her deceased husband's estate.

In an agreement to be submitted for approval by Chancellor Hoffman last week Mrs. Tarpley will receive 850 shares of the Universal Life stock with a book value of $125 per share (it's worth more), for a total of $106,250; $30,000 in time deposits and certificates; $6,000 in cash, and the Walker home at 1846 S. Parkway E., valued at $33,000; and other considerations.

Attorneys Wallace Lopez and Robert E. Joyner, who represented Mrs. Tarpley, said the settlement was also for the benefit of her minor child, Leon Eskridge, 6.