Obituary: Walter Hanks

Walter Ambrose Hanks, 81, a former longtime Carson City and Reno resident, died Sept. 24, 2003, in Arma, Kan., of complications following a stroke.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Cheney-Witt Funeral Home in Fort Scott, Kan.

Mr. Hanks was preceded in death by his wife, Geri. They lived in Reno from 1959 to 1972, in Carson from 1972 to 1984, then returned to Reno from 1972 to 1991. He retired to Fort Scott in 1991. He had lived in the Infinia nursing home in Arma for several years.

Mr. Hanks was born June 27, 1922, in Dumont, Colo., to Edgar Clayton Hanks and Lillian May Ambrose. He married Geraldine Ann Murrel in 1958.

Mr. Hanks was a high priest in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, where he saw action at the battle of Leyte Gulf, the Philippines and in the Aleutian Islands.

He worked for Grumman Aviation as a fabricator after the war and was proud of his contributions to the development of the "flying wing."

He was retired Teamster. He was a licensed pilot and avid aviator. He was an early contributor to the creation of the Reno International Air Races and could often be found at the Carson City Airport talking with his flying buddies.

Among his survivors are his daughter, Judy Beal of Fort Scott; son, Walter Adam Hanks of Cockeysville, Md.; stepchildren Raymond Mosley of Manhattan, N.Y., and Kathy Mosley of Silver Springs; sisters Mary Ann Pearson and Shirley Drake, both of Oxnard, Calif.; brother, Tom Hanks of Louisville, Ky.; 13 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Cheney-Witt Funeral Home in Fort Scott is in charge of arrangements.