Walter Shepard Wilkinson 1927–2017 Waveland Walter Wilkinson, aged 90, passed away peacefully at home in Waveland, on October 4, 2017. Walter was born on September 5, 1927 in Archie, Louisiana, the eldest son of Eunice Breithaupt Wilkinson and Charlie Shepard Wilkinson. After the early death of his father, Walter and his siblings were raised by his mother and his loving aunt and uncle, Minnie Wilkinson Burks and Rudy Burks. Walter graduated from Block High School in 1944 and immediately entered the Navy. After his discharge, he attended LSU and the University of Wisconsin, completing his PhD in animal nutrition and biochemistry in 1955. While at LSU, Walter married Mercille Hailey of Harrisonburg, Louisiana on March 30, 1948 in Woodville, Mississippi. He taught at various universities and worked for Ciba Geigy in commercial industrial research. In High Point, North Carolina, Mercille and Walter operated an H&R Block franchise. Upon retirement they moved to the beach at Waveland where Walter enjoyed family, good neighbors, sports, reading, and special lunches at Mary Mahoney's. Walter is survived by his wife, Mercille Hailey Wilkinson, of Waveland, his brother and sister-in-law, Otto and Mary Frances Wilkinson, of Decatur, Alabama, his sister-in-law, Martha Lee Hailey Book, of Waveland, his sister-in-law, Evelyn Dunn Wilkinson, of Dallas, Texas, and a host of nieces and nephews. Walter was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Lucille Wilkinson Smith, and his brother, Lloyd Wilkinson. Services will be private.