Bill Walker

Bill Walker was born William M. Walker in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA on April 16, 1951 and grew up in Delta Junction and in the port city of Valdez on Prince William Sound.

His father, Ed Walker was a businessman while his mother was Frances Park. He was the fourth child of his parents.

At the age of 12 he had to work as a janitor to support his family which had lost most of its belongings in the 1964 earthquake in Alaska.

He did his schooling at the ‘Valdez High School’ from where he graduated in 1969. He had to work as a carpenter, laborer and teamster at the ‘Trans-Atlantic Pipeline’ construction company which was owned by his family to earn the money for his education.

He left his home state in 1969 and joined the ‘Lewis Clark College’ in Portland, Oregon, to study business administration. He received his B. S. degree in Business administration in 1973.

Bill Walker worked as a commercial fisherman for one year at the ‘Price William Sound’ in 1969

He also worked as a construction worker for the ‘Trans-Alaska Pipeline’ for four years from 1970 to 1974. He was a member of the ‘Alaska Laborers’, Carpenters’ and Teamsters’ Unions during that period.

In 1975 he founded his own construction company based at Valdez named ‘Bill Walker Construction Company’ which operated till 1980.

During his days at the law school he got involved in politics and ran for a seat on the ‘Valdez City Council’. He was elected to the ‘Valdez City Council’ in 1977 for the first time and held the post of Council member till 1979.

Two years later in 1979 he was elected as the youngest mayor of Valdez at the age of 27 years only and held the post till 1980.

Bill walker loves fishing, skiing, snow-machining, boating, camping and ice-skating.