William Leon Walton

William Leon Walton, age 93, of Amherst, died peacefully on Friday, November 25, 2022, at Rockingham County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Brentwood. He was the loving husband of 70 years of Eleanor (Nottingham) Walton.

Born in Franklin, TN, on October 10, 1929, William was the son of the late Gilbert and Sarah (Pate) Walton. Raised and educated in Toledo, OH, William attended Scott High School and later graduated from Toledo University in 1952. During this time he met Eleanor and the two were married in March of 1952 at the Episcopal Church in Toledo. After University, William was drafted and proudly served his country as a Captain in the United States Marines. He then, embarked on a 30+ year career in Sales and Management at IBM.

Throughout his life William’s religion was positivity – he loved the phrase “Every Day is a Vacation” and when anyone asked him how he was doing he would undoubtedly answer “FAN-tastic” An active person, his favorite hobbies were skiing and golf. He skied and golfed well into his 80’s and went to the gym with Elle into their 90’s. An avid reader after retirement, he meticulously recorded the books he read and rated each one. It wasn’t unusual to pick up a book with his name and rating in the book. He spent most of his adult life in New Hampshire and his favorite undertaking in the late Fall or Spring was to ski and golf in a single day. During the last years of his life he always said that even though he was “running out of runway” he had lived his life to the fullest and had a great life.

In addition to his wife, William is survived by his children, Lissa Merrill of Dover, William E. Walton and his wife Amy (O’Sullivan) of Newburyport, MA, and Sarah Benson and husband Scott of New Castle. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Jeff Merrill and his wife Rachel (Buchinger), Leigh Perret, and husband Lindsay, Liam Walton, and Kieran Walton, as well as four great-grandchildren, Charlie, Alex Seby and Ace. In addition to his parents, William is predeceased by his siblings, Lundy Walton, Margaret Vickroy, Clarence “Toots” Walton and Richard Walton.

A celebration of life will be held for William in the spring of 2023 at a date to be announced.

In lieu of flowers, donations in William’s memory may be made to:

National Alzheimer’s Association/Mass/NH Chapter

309 Waverly Oaks Road

Waltham, MA 02452

https://act.alz.org/