Got a call yesterday from a friend who told me that Wally Burks had died. He was 68 years old. The friend didn't know the cause of death, but speculated it might have been a heart attack.
The first year the garage was open, in the metal building up the hill, Wally started hanging around, helping out when he was needed. At that time, he was roofing houses, but the work was sporadic. It was 1959 and the country was in the grip of a recession. Gradually he did more and more mechanic work and less and less roofing until he was mechanicing full time. I have often heard my father say that he couldn't fire Wally cause he never did hire him. Wally just started working and Daddy started paying him.
I had not seen Wally in over 30 years but he is one of the people in my life who I will not ever forget.
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