Walter Ingalls (2012)
Walter Henry Ingalls' entry to the world, and Norton Hill, was announced in his Grandmother Carrie Ingalls’ diary (1886-1893, 1913-1951: transcribed by Don Teator):
July 27, 1930 Sunday
Very pleasant day. Randall & Clarabel here for the fore-noon. & to dinner. A nice baby boy arrives at Stanleys at Noon. All very much pleased. We drove over to Warrens to So. Westerlo Kenneth came down to Warrens with us. Went over to Stanleys to see the new baby.
On September 20, she …went to Stanleys to look after the baby…
Finally on October 8, a name appears. …A little cloudy but no rain. Trum. at the mill sawing to-day. Eleanor & little Walter Henry came to spend the day with me…
And what a full, productive, and charitable life it has been.
Walter was born into a family that had first settled in the area in the 1790s, barely a mile from where Walter has lived his entire life. His father, Stanley (Stub), married Eleanor Goff, and had four children: Edna, Randall (Buddy), Claribel, and Walter. Stanley’s career included farming, the teamster business (horse, then by truck), and logging (which led directly to the GNH business: 1937-present).
It is in this milieu that Walter entered, grew up in Norton Hill, graduated from GCS as Salutatorian of the Class of 1948, married Shirley Burnett, and had four children: Kaaren, Kevin, Krista, and Kay.
Walter’s father initially tried to discourage him from immediately entering the family business. Walter earned a business degree from Albany Business College, and then plunged headlong into the business, his career choice for the next fifty years.
He tackled all of the jobs that a small, and growing, business entailed, from the hardest physical labor to the leadership role it demanded. A sawmill built off-site was meant to foster growth but ran headlong into the tough economy of the 1970s. Finally, in 1997, Walter ended his relationship with GNH on a more formal basis to settle into “retirement.”
Although Walter claims he usually does not seek the many volunteer and civic duties he has assumed, he somehow seems to acquire them quite easily, and has done so from an early age.
He was the class president every year in high school.
Even before graduation, Walter joined the volunteer fire company, and found himself president of that organization at age 20, and would serve a host of functions over the ensuing years – fundraisers, new trucks and equipment. He was instrumental in moving the Norton Hill fire house up and over the hill from the Methodist Church to its new site, including making it taller to house the bigger, modern trucks. Walter, an active member for over fifty years, had not missed a fire call, save for the times when he was on vacation or away from home.
Another organization that has benefited from his, and his family’s, efforts is the Greenville-Norton Hill Methodist Church – the merger, the expansions, choir (again, for over fifty years), and a host of committees and functions that needed a willing person.
Walter was persuaded into running for the School Board, just in time to see the construction of the Senior-Junior High School in the late 1960s, and to wrangle with some of the administrative challenges of that period.
Another civic group that Walter joined, and still is active in, is the Rotary Club – a community organization that currently meets weekly and is instrumental in giving a helping hand to so many efforts in the community. Again, concerned he would not have the time to do a fair job, Walter joined and continues to exert his personal best and to enroll the best of many around him, earning the highest honor of a “Paul Harris Fellow” in the organization for his outstanding community involvement.
Adding to this list, Walter has accepted positions on a variety of Boards, most notably as Chairman of the Board at the Greene County Savings Bank. Others include the Chamber of Commerce, the Republican Club, the Greenville Medical Building committee, the Planning Board, and assuming his wife, Shirley’s, position on the Greenville Library board after her passing.
Walter enjoys traveling (an RV is a common conveyance), takes pride in his children and grandchildren, enjoys history of all levels, and is a great resource of the town’s collective memory.
His giving of time and effort to his neighbors and friends is often remarked upon. Walter drives people to doctor’s appointments or to the hospital, fills in on an emergency basis, facilitates ways to help people, spreads a compliment or supportive word, and all of this with his own usual travails of life.
Above all else, when asked to describe Walter Ingalls, everyone says the same thing, from neighbors, friends, and community members: “Walter is an honest, humble man.”
Today, having passed his 80th birthday, Walter remains active, still cutting his own firewood. He suffered the loss of his wife Shirley in 2008, and recently married Donna Winans. Walter’s philosophy in life is that the best time of his life is this very moment. He continues to be one of the Greenville area’s most notable public role models.
Walter Henry Ingalls, the Greenville Local History Group is proud to recognize the efforts of an unassuming person who has managed to do so much above and beyond the usual call of duty.
- by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian