Obituary: Hay Walker IV / Retired executive of Dollar Bank

Dec. 27, 1931 - July 21, 2010

Saturday, July 24, 2010
By Anthony Fenech, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Whether he was boating in Lake Arthur, gardening at his house in Sewickley Heights or vacationing in Florida, Hay Walker IV was always active.

Hartley Walker said he remembers his brother most from the Sunday afternoon dinners they would have on his pontoon boat on the lake.

"He was always on board," he said.

Mr. Walker, a former senior vice president of Dollar Bank, died Wednesday of natural causes at Good Samaritan Hospice in Wexford. He was 78.

Mr. Walker began his career in the financial industry in 1951, after graduating from Shady Side Academy in Fox Chapel. He attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and four years later, after graduation, entered the Army.

His job was to make teeth for Army officers, something his brother remembers fondly from a long-told story of Mr. Walker's from the days he was stationed at the Carlisle military barracks in Cumberland County.

"I don't know if it's still around," his brother said, "but one day he had a fish and took some of the teeth and put them in its face. Just a pike with human teeth in it."

After the Army, Mr. Walker spent a number of years as a stockbroker before joining Dollar Bank in 1963.

A decade later, Robert P. Oeler, current president and CEO of Dollar Bank, joined the company and worked under Mr. Walker.

"He was always firm but fair," Mr. Oeler said. "You never know with a new boss, but he became my mentor and shared all of his information with this youngster."

The two worked together for nearly 20 years, from 1973 to Mr. Walker's retirement in 1992.

"He started as my boss, became my mentor and ultimately ended up as my friend," Mr. Oeler said.

After his retirement, Mr. Walker remained an active member of the Duquesne Club and Edgeworth Club.

In addition to his brother, Mr. Walker is survived by his wife, Helen Clark Walker; two daughters, Katherine W. Bantleon of Sewickley Heights and Elizabeth W. Mecke of Wellesley, Mass.; a stepdaughter, Araminta Roberts Brown and stepson, Charles B. Roberts of Coraopolis Heights; four grandchildren and two stepgrandchildren.

Funeral arrangements were by Copeland Funeral Home.