Delbert “Del” Eugene Walton, 97, of Port Charlotte, Florida passed away in his sleep at Solaris Healthcare Charlotte Harbor on Thursday, March 23, 2023.

Del was born January 18, 1926, in Andover, Ohio to the late Delorce and Bernice (Fish) Walton. He grew up in and around Warren, Ohio during the worst of the great Depression. He graduated from Warren Township High School in the spring of 1943 and then enrolled at Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In December of 1943 just before his 18^th birthday he joined the U.S. Navy where he qualified for the Navy V-12 Officer Training Program.  The Navy sent him to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts where he graduated in February 1946 with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and was commissioned as an Ensign in the Naval Reserve. The Navy then sent him to Supply Corps School at Harvard University.  He volunteered for shipboard duty and was assigned to the USS Pine Island, a large seaplane tender, as Disbursing Officer and assistant to the Supply Officer.

In December 1946 he was released from active duty but remained an inactive reserve officer until his retirement in 1969.  After a short stay in Ohio, he moved to Los Angles and was employed by Graybar Electric Company.  He married Alberta Ryder and traveled to Europe on a German freighter which went through the Panama Cana and stopped at Curacao, La Havre, France, Antwerp, Belgium, Amsterdam, Netherlands and finally to Hamburg, Germany. In July 1964 they moved to Honolulu, Hawaii where he became an independent self-employed representative of Graybar Electric as well as others. Business was successful, and life was very pleasant overall, but wanderlust returned, and they left to go overseas again in February 1971.  Del and Edna both loved music and they always associated Vienna with music. During this stay they saw “Fidelio”, Beethoven’s only opera, “The Merry Widow” (in German “Die Fledfermaus”)and the Vienna Boys Choir.

Del is survived by his sister, Patricia Ann Clarkin of Summerfield, NC; a nephew, John(wife-Shannon) Clarkin of Winston-Salem, NC; and a niece, Jacquelyn Kmetz of Greensboro, NC; and his friends at Heritage Oaks Park in Port Charlotte with whom they shared life experiences over the years.

A Celebration of Life service will be held Saturday 11:00 AM, April 22, 2023, in Villas IV at Heritage Oaks Friendship Garden, 19520 Heritage Oaks Blvd., Port Charlotte, FL 33948.  Interment and military honors will be held later at Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe.

Friends may visit online at www.robersonfh.com to extend condolences to the family. Arrangements by Roberson Funeral Home & Crematory, Port Charlotte Chapel.