John Macardell Walton Sr.

Mr. John Macardell Walton, Sr., a prominent retired architect died at his home on Richland Farm, Cordova, on Wednesday, April 19, 2000. He was 87. Born at Hyattsville, MD, July 2, 1912, he was the son of the late William Randolph And Mary Agnes Becher Walton. After attending Hyattsville Elementary School, Gonzaga College High School and graduating from St. Anthony''s High School in 1931, he attended the Catholic University of America where he graduated in 1936 with a degree in Architecture. He entered private practice as a Registered Architect, retiring from the firm of Walton, Madden and Cooper, Architects in Riverdale, MD in 1975. Mr. Walton was widely recognized for his architectural achievements which included the design of numerous schools, college buildings, court houses, hospitals, shopping centers, private residences and churches including St. Michaels Catholic Chapel, St. Michaels, MD and St. Christopher''s Catholic Church in Chester. In addition, he designed the first "trotting" horse race tracks in Prince George''s County and the State of Maryland at the Rosecroft and Laurel Raceways and was also instrumental in obtaining the first racing dates for these two trotting tracks from the Maryland General Assembly. President Dwight D. Eisenhower called upon him to redesign the staff Dining Room" in the White House and to design a garden wall and outbuilding at the President''s Gettysburg, PA farm. In 1959, Pope John XX111 awarded him the "Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice" Papal Medal for his charitable deeds which included his "many efforts to help priests and the religious order." In 1975, he received the Alumni Achievement Award in the Field of Architecture from the Catholic University of America. A member of the American Institute of Architects, he was also active in the work of the Regional Public Advisory Panel on Architectural Services to the General Services Administration, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.''s Building Committee, the Prince George''s County Beautification Committee, the Prince George''s County Hall of Fame Committee, the Citizens Advisory Committee for Preparation of a Historic Preservation Plan in Prince George''s County, the American Carriage Association, the Knights of Columbus, the John Carroll Society, the Committee for the Restoration of the Mary Surratt House, the Rotary Club, the Board of Directors of the Clinton Bank, the Washington Area Regional Advisory Board of the Equitable Trust Bank, the Prince George''s County Chamber of Commerce, the Washington D.C. Board of Trade, the President''s Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped, the Ploughman and Fisherman of Prince George''s County, the Ninth Battalion Association of the Maryland State Guard, the Holly Society of America, the Marlborough Hunt Club and the Prince George''s County Animal Rescue League of which he was a Past President. A resident of Cordova since 1995, he has previously lived at "Ginger Cove" in Annapolis from 1990 - 1995 and at "His Lordship''s Kindness" in Clinton from 1955 - 1990. His church affiliations included Sts. Peter And Paul Catholic Church in Easton, MD, St. Mary''s Catholic Church in Annapolis, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Clinton and St. Jerome''s Catholic Church in Hyattsville. His first wife, the former Sara Ann Robinson whom he married in Hyattsville in June of 1938, died in October of 1988. His second wife, the former Dorothy Hertzog whom he married in Annapolis in December of 1989, died in May of 1995. . Mr. Walton is survived by two daughters, Elizabeth Ann Ruppert of Fairfield, PA and Joan Marie Dent of Cordova, MD; a son, John Macardell Walton, Jr. of Clinton, MD; a brother, Walter F. Walton of Pittsburgh, PA; three stepchildren; eleven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.