Wallis Brinker McArthur
Marriages
Toka Williams - July 14, 1956
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 7B Obituary - March 8, 2017
Wallis Brinker
McArthur
August 12, 1925 - February 24, 2017
"Mac" was born to William
T and Zallie B. McArthur in
Portland, Oregon. In early
1926 his family moved to
Southern Oklahoma where his
father went into farming and
ranching. In 1930 the
depression brought this
enterprise to an end, so his
father went back into the drug store business as a pharmacist,
working in a Rexall Drug owned by his brother.
Mac went to public school in Marlow, Oklahoma, but quit high
school in his senior year to join the Navy on February 24, 1943.
He went through aircraft mechanic, radar operation, and aircraft
gunnery training. He became an Air Crewman and served in the
South Pacific based in Guam. He flew to many islands and was
involved in the battle of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He returned
from Guam in late 1945 and served in Florida and Norfolk,
Virginia; then received a medical discharge in February 1947.
After leaving the Navy, he entered college and graduated from
Colorado A&M (now Colorado State University) in December
1950 with a B.S. in Animal Husbandry. After college, Mac
worked for five years in Faith, South Dakota, teaching
veterinary care on the farm. Eventually he moved to
Farmington, New Mexico, and worked in the oil fields.
He met and married Toka Williams on July 14, 1956. Toka
passed away September 7, 2005. They had a daughter, Lisa, in
1958, who now resides in Denver, Colorado.
Mac worked three years for the U.S. Postal Service and
transferred to Farmers Home Administration (USDA) in 1961.
He worked in numerous locations in California and Nevada,
then served in Grand Junction, Colorado, for four years. In 1978
Mac was transferred to the agency’s national office in
Washington, D.C. until he retired in 1985.
In August of 1985 Mac and Toka moved back into the home
they still owned in Grand Junction, CO. They enjoyed living
here in Western Colorado. In 2000 Mac found two abandoned
kittens outside his back porch that he wound up feeding after
their mother never returned. These kittens, Tom and Jeri,
became Mac’s lifelong companions.
Mac loved visiting with everyone. He would bring neighbors,
Ron and Colleen their mail every day and sit for while. He
would say, "I told Tom and Jeri I would be right back, so I better
go”. After a good laugh, he would be on his way.
For the last two years Mac lived at the Community Living
Center at the Grand Junction VA Medical Center and then the
Colorado State Veteran’s Home in Denver.
Mac is survived by his daughter, Lisa Revkah Balingit; two
grandsons; many nieces and nephews; and his neighbors, Ron
and Colleen, Ray, Marilyn and Tony.
“I want to thank you all for listening to my stories, coming to
my assistance, and helping as I aged so I could stay in my home
as long as possible”.
A graveside service will be held at The Veterans Memorial
Cemetery of Western Colorado, 2830 Riverside Pkwy., Grand
Junction, CO, on Friday, March 10, 2017, at 1:00 p.m.
To view and sign the family guestbook, please visit
www.callahan-edfast.com.