Pat Walker
The Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation donated $3 million to the Circle of Life hospice in memory of Willard and Pat Walker.
The gift will provide $1 million for the hospice’s capital campaign and $2 million for the Charity care Endowment campaign. The capital campaign has raised more than $15 million for building maintenance, expansion at the Earlene Howard Hospice Home in Springdale and new construction of a hospice in Bentonville.
The Walker family requested that the Bentonville hospice be named in honor of longtime family friends Marie and John Carr.
“As a nurse, Marie would be so proud to have their names affiliated with such a caring organization,” said Johnny Mike Walker, chairman of the foundation.
Circle of Life has raised nearly half of its $5 million goal for the Charity Care Endowment.
“We want to ensure everyone in Northwest Arkansas has access to hospice care regardless of their financial situation,” said foundation Executive Director Mandy Macke.
Willard Walker was the first manager of Sam Walton’s Five & Dime store in Fayetteville and later managed a Walmart store in Springdale.
When the company went public in 1970, Walker took out bank loans to buy as much stock as he could. He retired from Walmart a wealthy man, and the couple devoted themselves to philanthropy, creating a foundation in 1986 with a focus on health care and education.
Willard Walker died at age 81 in February 2003. Pat Walker died at age 97 in September 2016. The couple had been married 61 years.
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