Gregory W Walton

Gregory William Walton was born on April 30, 1958, in New York City. He was the first child born of the marriage of Willie Walton Jr. and Lillian Cecilia Walton, (nee Piper Caine). During the first seven years of his life, he witnessed the birth of his younger siblings, Gilbert, Gail, and Glynis, who their mother determined would all, like him, receive names beginning with the hard letter “G”. His parents raised Gregory and his siblings in a large home in the borough of the Bronx in New York City that was shared with his aunt Myrtle Ruth Martin and her children- Valerie, Steven and Patricia, His childhood home was filled with love, laughter and lots of family and friends. Gregory grew up surrounded by his maternal relatives who immigrated from the Caribbean islands of Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis and Barbados and his paternal relatives from Georgia, some of whom spent their early years living with him, and others who visited regularly. Born with intellectual disabilities and developmental delays at a time when society did not generally accommodate such differences, Gregory endured teasing and maltreatment from some of his peers, but developed a strong, determined, resilient and upbeat personality in response. With his parents’ guidance, he obtained his education and graduated from The Lorge School- a school dedicated to special needs students- in New York City. He went on to a lifetime of steady employment as a cleaner and maintenance worker at department stores in New York, and when he relocated with his parents in 1987 to his father’s native Georgia, Gregory worked at the Mall at South Dekalb and later at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. Diagnosed with prostate cancer four years ago, Gregory fought hard against the disease displaying all of his aforementioned personality traits, but succumbed to it on March 13, 2025, at the age of 66 years. He was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his siblings, Gilbert Walton (Michaelle), Gail Walton and Glynis Walton Callender (Vandale), cousin Patricia Martin King( Dwight) , his aunt Harriet Walton, two nieces, two nephews and a host of other cousins and friends who are left to cherish his memory.

Tributes

Gregory W Walton

April 30, 1958 - March 13, 2025