The center was nearly filled as young and old from Middle Georgia and beyond came to pay their last respects to Walker, who died Monday.
Among those attending were Gov. Sonny Perdue, U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, state Sen. Cecil Staton, state Rep. Tony Sellier, Perry Mayor Jim Worrall, former Macon Mayor C. Jack Ellis and elected officials from Houston and neighboring counties.
Flowers lined the stage behind the casket placed, appropriately enough, above a “City of Warner Robins” emblem on the floor.
“We’re here to celebrate the life of a brother, husband, father, grandfather, friend to most and mayor to all,” said Bishop Jeff Poole of New Hope International Church in opening the ceremony.
Poole added that while looking for words of comfort he came upon Psalm 23 and took solace in the phrase “my cup runneth over.”
“We will be full, running over with memories of him and gladness,” Poole said.
Jimmy Asbell noted that Walker’ blood “ran red, white and blue,” and he was devoted to his country. He then invited all to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
The community is “sad, shocked, shamed and we’ve been angry,” Asbell continued before leading a prayer. “We celebrate a life of service that ended too soon. There is so much we don’t know, there are questions but there is no question you are here. Grant your peace to him.”
Walker’s troubles are over now, he said, and asked “the peace of Christ” to help the community heal as it remembers Walker’s life.
“Let us now begin the process of healing for our broken hearts and broken sprits,” he concluded as the congregation said “Amen” with one voice.
Poole added that although Walker had a reputation for annexation, the city never annexed the area near Kathleen where Poole lives, which brought forth a burst of laughter. He then urged everyone to change his or her outlook to an “uplook” and look forward to the future.
Former state Rep. Larry Walker recalled how, when asked by a client if he was related to the Walkers, he said he was related to Jay Walker but not Donald Walker. For the record, the two Walker families are not related.
He then read from Theodore Roosevelt’s 1910 speech, “The Man in the Arena,” which praised the person “who spends himself in a worthy cause,” and the poem “If,” by Rudyard Kipling, which praised the person who remains true to themselves despite all the temptations of the world.
“If Warner Robins was your arena, Donald Walker was in there with you,” Walker said. “If you were a child and didn’t have a Santa Claus, Donald Walker spent himself on worthy causes.”
He imagined that Walker was “up in Heaven today, trying to get with God and figure out a way to annex Macon into Warner Robins,” as the place filled with laughter.
“He did all the good he could do to all the people he could,” he said. “He was a man who was loved by some but respected by all. God bless Donald Walker, a good man.”
Pastor Willie Reid of Fellowship Bible Baptist Church delivered the eulogy, saying that while searching the Bible for something to help bring closure to Walker’s death, he came across the Book of Deuteronomy and the verse, “the secret things belong to the Lord, the revealed things belong to us.”
Only God and Donald Walker know why he took his life, Reid said, and cautioned that sorrow without hope lasts a lifetime.
“Donald is with the Lord. What he did might not please God, but Donald is God’s child,” Reid said, “and God’s children live forever. He’s not in pain, he’s free at last.”
The Fellowship Bible Baptist Church choir then concluded the service with Walker’s favorite hymn, “Amazing Grace,” as the audience stood and sang along.
Escorted by an honor guard of police officers and firefighters, pallbearers then took the casket away.
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