Family, community gather for funeral of former Watertown Mayor Tom Walker

Jan. 10—WATERTOWN — Family members and friends remembered how former Mayor T. Urling "Tom" Walker had a fascination with clocks.

Mr. Walker, who died on Jan. 3 at the age of 97, displayed all kinds of clocks around his home, they said.

He liked working on them. He liked fixing them.

So it seemed fitting that his daughter, Laurel Pike, brought a dome glass clock to his funeral on Monday afternoon. It was the only one that worked and the only one that told the correct time, she said.

At 12:15 p.m. — or about 15 minutes into the funeral service at Watertown's First Presbyterian Church — the clock just stopped.

In explaining what happened, she thought it symbolized her father's "time on Earth was over."

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Philip Long recalled visiting his friend at his home with his inquisitive 5-year-old son, who wondered why the former mayor owned so many clocks.

After his son asked about one particular clock, Mr. Walker simply answered that he was interested in how the springs and gears inside made it work.

The little boy responded with one word that put it all in perspective: "OK."

In saying goodbye to his friend, the Rev. Long said the former mayor and philanthropist did so much for so many in the community.

He recalled volunteering at the annual Concert in the Park festivities in Thompson Park when Mr. Walker called him over to say happy Fourth of July.

The conversation turned into a friend of the mayor telling the reverend how Mr. Walker was instrumental in establishing the free, yearly event.

"Not everyone has a home on the river," the former mayor told him that day. "Not everyone has a pool. Not everyone can afford to go to a concert."

Over the years, he made many charitable contributions with his late wife, Mabel E. Brooks Walker, including to the Walker Center for Canter Care at Samaritan Medical Center that bears his name, Hospice of Jefferson County and Jefferson Community College. He was also instrumental in the expansion of Fort Drum.

He served as the city's mayor from 1983 to 1991 and as interim city manager for two years.

A World War II veteran, Mr. Walker came to Watertown to work at New York Air Brake, where he learned about the jobs of others who worked there because it was important to him to know what it was like to live in another person's shoes, the Rev. Long said.

The Rev. Long told the mourners that Mr. Walker's legacy should be making sure people live in his friend's shoes and to care about others.

At the end of the service, Mr. Walker's son, Tom Walker Jr., paid tribute to his father by reading "When I Die," by American poet Merrit Malloy.

"Love doesn't die, people do," he read. "So when all that's left of me is love, give me away."

As people strolled out of the church, the dome glass clock, along with a picture of Mr. Walker and a folded American flag, sat prominently displayed on a solid wood table at the front of the church.

And its hands remained at 12:15.