Posted on 06/29/2005 12:57:35 PM PDT by Ronzo
John Walton shared his father’s passion for flying but had his own ideas on how his life would be spent away from Northwest Arkansas.
The Wal-Mart heir and second son of Sam and Helen Walton died Monday while flying his experimental aircraft in Jackson, Wyo.
He was 58.
He was known for choosing jeans and a T-shirt over a suit and tie. He preferred a beat-up truck over a shiny new car.
Friends said Walton spent his life promoting education reform, spending time with his family, flying, playing various sports and fulfilling his obligation on the Wal-Mart board. Among his hobbies were skiing, scuba diving, mountain biking and hiking. "He was bright and intelligent, but he didn’t really care about the trappings of inherited power," said family friend George Westmoreland of Rogers. "He was just very generous."
Tuesday, people shared their memories of a man they described as a quiet and genuine person who was focused on helping others with his time and money. "He was the most genuinely compassionate person I’ve ever met," said Bentonville High School classmate Janet Hendren. "He lived life to the fullest."
The second of the Waltons’ four children, John Walton left Northwest Arkansas shortly after returning from a stint as an Army Green Beret in Vietnam. He worked as a crop duster and a ship builder before settling down in northwest Wyoming with his wife and son. Walton received a Silver Star in Vietnam for saving his fellow soldiers’ lives during an attack. "They don’t give you the Silver Star for good attendance," Westmoreland said. Along with his adventurous nature, friends said John Walton had a deep love for his family. Two weeks ago, Walton and his wife Christy watched their son Luke graduate from the Journeys School at the Teton Science Schools in Jackson, Wyo. Jack Shea, director of the program, said the Walton family has been a blessing to the school and the community. "I can still see John’s beaming face as Luke graduated," Shea said. "That’s a wonderful memory that I’ll carry with me always."
Friends said John Walton’s commitment to family brought him back to Northwest Arkansas at least once a month to visit his mother Helen Walton. He told friends he would often take her on a drive or attend church at the First Presbyterian Church of Bentonville. "He told me it was through those drives with his mother that he’s seen the changes to Bentonville," said high school classmate Phyllis Jo Black.
A 1964 graduate of Bentonville High School, John Walton was the first of Sam Walton’s children to decide against playing an active role in running the family business. After a brief time as the company pilot for Wal-Mart Aviation, John Walton stopped working for the company fulltime. "I didn’t get the chance to work with him directly," said Bill Mansker, chief international pilot with Wal-Mart Aviation. "However, I have heard stories about his Wal-Mart Aviation time. He was always interested in the working of the aviation department — maintaining safe airplanes and ensuring we were being safe."
In his autobiography, Sam Walton: Made in America, the Wal-Mart founder talked about his son’s decision not to work for the company. "[John is] the most independent of the bunch and the only one who doesn’t live here in Arkansas, and he’s a tremendous individual," Sam Walton wrote. "He and his family live out West, where he designs and builds sailboats, and he also runs a large crop-dusting business." We’re all pilots, so it’s real easy for us to get together on a moment’s notice. "Shortly after leaving Wal-Mart, John Walton moved to Texas and started training to be a crop duster. Darryl Riddell, owner of Riddell Flying Services in Helena, first met John Walton when he delivered a plane.
After flying it from Texas to Arkansas, Walton refused to let Riddell take him to the airport to catch a return flight home.
" He told me to take him to the bus station, and he’d catch the bus back, "Riddell said Tuesday." That’s what I did. When John got something in his head, that’s the way he wanted it to be. "
Riddell said Walton was like his father. While Sam Walton was building a retail empire, John was running his own crop-dusting business.
" I asked him one time why he didn’t work for the family business, "Riddell said." He told me ‘ I just don’t have it in me. I like to be outside, and I love to fly. ’"
Last October, Walton joined fellow classmates for part of their 40 th class reunion in Bentonville. Black said Walton came to a luncheon wearing new clothes after he heard about the gathering at the last minute. "The tags were still on his pants," Black said.
Those who knew Walton said his sense of adventure defined him. "If you would have asked John if he would rather die in that plane or spend six months in bed dying of cancer, he would have told you to put him in the plane," Westmoreland said. "That was the type of person he was."
Copyright © 2001-2004 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
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I'll second that motion...
He was like a cowboy.
A DAREDEVIL Wal-Mart heir was mourned by the world’s richest family yesterday after he plunged to his death in a hand-built microlight.
John Walton, the 11th richest person on Earth, crashed his home-made “hobby aircraft” soon after take-off from Jackson Hole airport in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on Monday.
“He loved to dare. He was a risk-taker. But he was very competent,” his first wife, Mary Ann Gunn, told The Times. “It doesn’t surprise me that he would experiment with that kind of airplane because that was the nature of his character. He enjoyed flying and sailing and those kind of things.”
Airport staff said that Mr Walton, a Wal-Mart board member, had started flying the microlight a month ago and had been up in it several times.
Authorities said he was the only person on board the aluminium and canvas machine, which weighed between 400lb and 500lb and was powered by a small petrol engine mounted behind the pilot. The weather was sunny and calm.
“Quickly after he gained elevation, he banked and immediately went down,” Jackie Skaggs, a National Parks spokeswoman, said. “It was near the main highway that runs north-south through Grand Teton National Park. There were lots of people on the highway at the time and lots of witnesses.”
Several had run to help, but Mr Walton had died on impact.
A decorated Vietnam veteran, Mr Walton, 58, was the second son of the legendary Sam Walton, who turned a “five and dime” store in Arkansas into a worldwide retail colussus.
Were he alive today, Sam Walton would be almost twice as wealthy as Bill Gates. John Walton ranked joint 11th with his brother Jim on the Forbes magazine “rich list”, with personal wealth of $18.2 billion (£10 billion). Their older brother Robson, now company chairman, was ahead on $18.3 billion and their mother and sister behind with $18 billion each.
After dropping out of college, John Walton was a medic with the Green Berets in Vietnam and was awarded a Silver Star for saving several members of his unit under enemy fire.
On his return, he kept his distance from the family business. “You never really know whether you’re getting a job because of who you are or whether you earned it,” he was quoted as saying.
Ms Gunn, now an Arkansas judge, said that her former husband had caught the flying bug on his return from Vietnam, and began an unlikely new career as a crop-duster. “He loved to build things. He loved motorcycles and after he got home from Vietnam he built what we used to call Chopper — a Harley-Davidson with an extended fork,” she said. “At that time he was also flying the corporate plane for Wal-Mart. He started crop-dusting in the early Seventies. He had a licence to train other pilots and he got interested in biplanes.”
Ms Gunn recalled how she would sometimes ride along, sitting in the hopper normally used for the pesticide. “We would land those airplanes on a beach and have a picnic.”
Mr Walton bought an Arkansas company that specialised in monoplanes and began doing aerobatics. But then he fell in love with sailing. Also a sky diver and a scuba diver, he moved to San Diego and founded a company that built trimarans.
Mr Walton, who was educated in state schools, was a strong advocate of school vouchers that would allow poor children to attend private school and funded unsuccessful campaigns to introduce them in two states. He also founded the Children’s Scholarship Fund in 1998 to help to pay school fees for poor children.
He and his second wife, Christy, had a son, Luke.
THE WALTON FAMILY HISTORY
1918 Sam Walton born in Oklahoma
1962 Opens the first Wal-Mart store in Arkansas. Beats off competition through wholesale buying and discount selling
1985 Walton’s 39 per cent share in Wal-Mart makes him the richest man in America
1992 Dies as the world’s second wealthiest man. Leaves his $10 billion fortune to his family who, until 2005, held five of the Top Ten spots on America’s rich list
1999 Wal-Mart buys British supermarket chain Asda for $12.2 billion
2004 John Walton, above, is ranked the world’s sixth richest person, with an $20 billion fortune
2005 Wal-Mart declares record profit of $10 billion
Copyright 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd.
My dad was going to build one of those planes for himself until he talked to the company and found out how often they crashed.
Unless your name is John Kerry and then that "good attendance" thing isn't even required.
Since I am currently looking and choosing myself, I can't help but wonder which was his choice.
By the description of the accident, it sure sounds like a low altitude stall. Influenced by many many factors, not the least of which is (density) altitude.
"One of those" doesn't define anything.
Equally or more impressive is knowing how many of "them" don't crash. Remember, these are not usually built by engineers, and assembly must be meticulously per instructions. A warped wing might look wonderful and fail in flight.
On top of that, it is not required that the pilot attend ground school, study weather and do all the normal things required of a licenced pilot.
No licence whatsoever is required, to fly alone.
My dad was multi engine certified and had a Piper Aerostar plane in the late 80's early 90's. He was going to build an ultra light (the same as this one) and I believe that the man at the company had a dad that built the model that my dad was interested in. He crashed due to mechanical failure. The crash rate was 12% at the time or something like that (although some of the pilots had heart attacks which caused the crash). My dad is a safety nut and very meticulus. He will also not take a risk that could jeopardize his ability to return to his family or run his business that he built on his own and loves. My dad felt that it was a risk that he could not justify because if the plane did crash, he would probably be killed. My dad also raced sprint cars, so it isn't like he is not a bit of a thrill seeker.
I understand that the success rate is very high, but if something goes wrong in a plane, the results are catastrophic. Many people will not take that chance. My dad was one of them.
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