The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING LEE DUDLEY WALKER
______
HON. H. MORGAN GRIFFITH
of virginia
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Mr. GRIFFITH. Madam Speaker, I offer these remarks in honor of Lee Dudley Walker of Martinsville, Virginia, who passed away on January 12, 2021 at the age of 90. Dudley Walker was a business and community leader who made a tremendous contribution to the Martinsville-Henry County area.
Mr. Walker was born on July 20, 1930 in Martinsville to Virginia Dudley and Samuel Stanhope Walker. He graduated as the valedictorian of Martinsville High School in 1947 and earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. The next year, he attained a post-graduate certificate from Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia. In 1952, he graduated from North Carolina State University, where he had served in the Reserve Officer's Training Corps and became Cadet Regimental Adjutant. Mr. Walker served for two years in the United States Army and was assigned to the Armed Services Textile and Apparel Procurement Agency in New York City.
Upon completion of his military service, Mr. Walker returned home to join the family business, the Walker Knitting Company founded by his father Samuel in 1928. Samuel Walker also served as president of the Bassett-Walker Knitting Company. Dudley Walker became president of the Walker Knitting Company, and upon his father's death in 1960 he led both companies. They merged in 1964 under the Bassett-Walker Knitting Company name.
Under Mr. Walker's leadership, Bassett-Walker grew. It built a sewing plant in Stuart in 1965 and in Hillsville and Brookneal in the 1970s. It subsequently acquired yarn manufacturer Johnston Mills Co., opened divisions in Ferrum and Stoneville, North Carolina, and opened a distribution center in Henry County. At its zenith, Bassett-Walker owned 13 plants and employed more than 7,000 workers, helping Martinsville earn its reputation as ``The Sweatshirt Capital of the World.'' The company became part of VF Corp in 1984. Mr. Walker operated as Chairman of Knitwear for VF until 1986 and remained on the company's board until 2000. He acted not only as an executive but as a community leader whose businesses were an important support to the people of the area.
Beyond his role in this industry, at the time so fundamental to the Martinsville-Henry County area, Mr. Walker was a dedicated philanthropist. Wanting to keep young people in the region, he became a driving force behind the founding of Carlisle School, playing active roles from helping to choose the school's site to recruiting staff. He donated to Patrick Henry Community College, the YMCA, and the Boys and Girls Club of the Blue Ridge, among other organizations. He was a lifelong member of Broad Street Christian Church, which his mother had helped found.
Among the recognitions Mr. Walker received for his accomplishments were the Heck Ford Award from the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce and the Pillar Award from the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Council for ``Lifetime Contributions to the Martinsville-Henry County Business Community.''
Mr. Walker's survivors include his wife of 65 years, Elizabeth Mitchell Walker; son Samuel Stanhope Walker II and wife Janice Meredith Walker; daughters Virginia Walker Hamlet and her husband Burgess Harrison Hamlet III and Anne Walker Poole and her husband Walker Lynch Poole; grandchildren Andrew Linwood Shelton, Blake Thomas Walker, Harrison Walker Hamlet, Lee Dudley Hamlet, Mitchell Hudson Hamlet, Walker Lynch Poole., Jr., Virginia Buchanan Poole, and Elizabeth Weaver Poole; and sister Spotswood Walker Box. I offer them my condolences on this loss of this great business leader and philanthropist of the Martinsville-Henry County area.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 19
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