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James Joseph Walker of Santa Fe died Sunday morning, August 12, 2007 from complications resulting from multiple chronic disorders. He was 73 years old. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Helen Walker; his sisters, Elizabeth and Mildred; his brother, Bill; granddaughter, Emma; and best friend, Lino Perez. Born in Philadelphia on December 29, 1933, he was no stranger to hard work and helped support his family after the death of his father. He worked with his brother unloading boxcars, catching cans at a cannery and picking blueberries. He came to New Mexico in 1950 and graduated from Roswell High School in 1951. After graduation, he spent a semester at Drexel University before joining the Navy where he served for two years. Upon his discharge, he attended the University of New Mexico where he earned a degree in physics and won the heart of Louhannah Mann, the girl from Roswell he married in 1957. He then completed work for a Master's Degree in mathematics at N.M.S.U. in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Moving his wife and 3 small children across the country, he earned his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of South Carolina in 1965. From 1962 to 1980 he worked for national defense contractors including EG&G and The Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. During this time frame he helped pioneer systems and processes for the detection of subterranean and atmospheric nuclear blasts. Uniquely creative, he was driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and neither he nor his career was one-dimensional. In 1980 he founded Amparo Corporation, a scientific consulting firm. Through Amparo he continued with defense contracting while branching out into other areas. One of his proudest achievements was the development of a digital mosaicing system which he named MOSART, that was employed by such galleries as The Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Prado in Madrid, Spain, and The National Gallery in Washington, D.C. This ground-breaking technology revolutionized art research, and its impact on the art world is still felt today. Brave, daring and ever the optimist, he founded two other companies including AmpMed Corporation in 1996, which developed cutting edge electronic data validation and submission software for the medical industry. He was a member of Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, the American Physical Society and the New York Academy of Science. An avid gardener and enthusiastic and knowledgeable connoisseur of wine, he was adored by his children and grandchildren and was the love of his wife's life. The light which was Jim Walker burned brightly. He was an amazing man. He is survived by his wife, Louhannah and their three children, Kelly Altamirano and her husband Jim of Albuquerque, James Walker Jr., and his, wife, Andrea of Monteverde, Costa Rica, and Allene Landgraf and her husband, John of Santa Monica, California. He is also survived by ten grandchildren. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 12 noon on Friday, August 17, 2007 at St. Francis Cathedral Basilica. Arrangements are under the direction of Berardinelli Family Funeral Services 1399 Luisa Street Santa Fe, NM, 87505 (505) 984-8600.
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