ULLIN, Ill. — Thomas (Tom) Jay Walker, age 72, of Ullin, Ill. passed away at 9:35 a.m. Sunday, July 15, 2012, at Southgate Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Metropolis, Ill.

Tom was born July 8, 1940, at Ullin, Illinois, son of the late Keith (Mutt) Walker and Florence (Slocum) Walker.

Tom was a member of Cache Chapel Methodist Church near Ullin, was a board member of the New Hope Cemetery board and the Cache Chapel Cemetery board, both of Ullin.

He was a former school teacher and taught field, field track and basketball, was a farm advisor in Himcock County, a member of the Pulaski-Alexander County Farm Bureau, a member of the Coffee Club of Ullin.

He was also an avid fisherman, a retired farmer, a class of 1958 graduate of Ullin High School, a graduate of SIU Carbondale and a retired employee of EEI Plant in Joppa, Illinois.

Tom married the former Peggy Williams on October 24, 1976, at the First United Methodist Church in Metropolis, Illinois.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents, Keith (Mutt) and Florence Walker; grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. R.L. Walker and Mr. and Mrs. Otto Slocum; and a son, Michael J. Walker on November 12, 2010.

Survivors include his wife, Peggy Walker of Ullin; a daughter, Rhonda Walker-Karl and husband, David Karl of Baldwin, Missouri; two sisters, Lois (Don) Dauksch of Bunker Hill, Illinois and Ann Johnson of Georgia; grandson, Joshua Walker (Alicia Rueter); great-grandson, Andrew Michael Walker; nieces, Teena Addison and Gay Ellen Stina; two nephews, Wade Dauksch and Ricky Johnson; great-niece, Katie Dauksch; three great-nephews, Jason Dauksch, Joshua and Eli Addison; two cousins, Bobby and Joe Walker.

Funeral services for Tom Walker will be at 1 p.m. Sunday, July 22, 2012, at the Cache Chapel Methodist Church east of Ullin with the Rev. Mike Shearer and Pastor Mike Sharp officiating.

Interment will follow in the Cache Chapel Cemetery east of Ullin, Illinois.

Friends may call Saturday between 5-8 p.m. at Jones Funeral Home Villa Ridge and after 12 noon Sunday until service time at the church.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of memorials to the Cache Chapel Cemetery Association c/o Jerry Brown, Brown Lane Olmsted, Illinois 62970 in memory of Tom Walker.

Jones Funeral Home Villa Ridge is in charge of the arrangements.