Lorraine Walker

Services for Lorraine Walker who died unexpectedly on Friday, April 25, 2014, have been determined. A visitation will be held from 5pm - 8pm on Friday, May 2, at the Mass-Hinitt Chapel, 805 Caroline Avenue in Junction City. A public memorial service will be held at 11am, Saturday, May 3, at Junction City Middle School, 700 Wildcat Lane, which is just south and west of US Hwy 77. The family will receive friends at the Second Missionary Baptist Church, 701 W. 10th Street, at the conclusion of Saturday's memorial. Cremation will take place following these services.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested contributions be made to the Williams' Children Scholarship Fund, c/o Central National Bank, P.O. Box 700, Junction City, KS 66441.

Lorraine was born on November 11, 1954, in Vienna, Austria, to Thelma Williams Jr. and the late Maggie Williams. She was educated from elementary school through high school in USD #475. She attended Emporia Teacher's College (now Emporia State University) upon her graduation from Junction City Senior High School in 1972, after graduating from Emporia Teacher's College, Lorraine began as an educator in Bonner Springs, KS, teaching the fourth grade. She later returned to Junction City and USD #475 and in 1981, accepted a third grade teaching position at Washington Elementary. In 1986, she moved to the Alternative Center and taught there for two years. In 1988, she was offered the Principal position at Washington Elementary where she remained until her untimely death. Lorraine also received a Master's in Education Administration from Kansas State University in 1982.

Lorraine's impact extended well beyond the school district and stretched into the community in which she lived. She was very active and served many leadership roles within her church, Second Missionary Baptist, including Board of Trustees, Board of Christian Education and Vacation Bible School with many of those roles taking advantage of her skills as an educator. Additionally, she gave back to her community by being involved in many organizations of which there are too many to name, but among those to note include serving recently as President of the Dorothy Bramlage Public Library Board of Trustees, Program Chairperson for the Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration. She and her siblings also established the Williams' Children Scholarship Fund a decade ago to provide financial aid to selected college-bound Junction City High School students. In her spare time, she enjoyed traveling around the world, including recent trips to Africa and Greece, as well as quilting.

Lorraine is survived by her father, Thelma Williams, Jr., Junction City, and two siblings, Sabrina Ware and husband Gerald of Tulsa, OK, and Vernon Williams and wife Brenda of Overland Park, KS. Her two nephews, Justin Ware of Tulsa and Noah Williams of Overland Park, also survive her as well a host of cousins. Her Mother, Maggie Williams, her maternal grandparents, Andrew and Henrietta Higgerson and her fraternal grandparents, Thelma Sr. and Lizzie Williams, predeceased Lorraine. Her life and legacy is being celebrated by a community of students, teachers, and friends.