All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

Doris “Jean” Strader Walton

After a battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease, Doris “Jean” Strader Walton went to Heaven to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She gained her heavenly reward on Thursday, November 7, 2024, when she passed peacefully at home.

She was born on March 8, 1946, at the home of her parents Dencil Junior Strader and Nellie Dove Simmons Strader in the Heaston Ridge community of Upshur County. On September 2, 1967, she was united in marriage to the love of her life Rex Walton, who preceded her in death on January 11, 2009. In addition to her parents and loving husband she was also preceded in death by two sisters Sharon Cornell and Avis Hull and one brother June Strader.

Jean is survived by three sisters: Arlene Gregory and husband Harley of Ohio, Aleta Detamore and husband Charley of Berlin and Vonda Thomason of Frenchton; brother-in-law Eugene Hull of Winfield; and many nieces and nephews.

Jean loved her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. On May 26, 1957, she was baptized at the age of 11. The same day she joined the Heaston (United Methodist) Ridge Christian Fellowship and became a life-time member. Jean was a graduate of Buckhannon Upshur High School class of 1964. Upon graduating high school, she attended West Virginia Wesleyan College. She worked at the Record Delta and Garden Fresh before starting her career with the West Virginia Department of Highways Equipment Division on March 3, 1975, where she later retired after 35 years of service. In addition to her career, she enjoyed photography and kept detailed family albums full of pictures, family history and some neat stories preserved for the next generations to enjoy.

Jean was very dedicated to her family and loved each of them. She especially loved Rex and was a devoted and nurturing wife to him. Until he passed in 2009, it seemed that you could always find them together. Together they built their beautiful hand-crafted home and a loving, inseparable life on the Lick Run Road near Buckhannon. In the home they built together she was a generous hostess to anyone who stopped by.

Jean was a hardworking woman who greatly enjoyed making everything around her beautiful. Her creative nature made her an amazing interior decorator. Her love for flowers, vegetable gardening and growing things was evident in the details of the landscaping around her home. Jean was also a wonderful care provider to her dad, her husband, her only brother and her best friend “Mrs. J”. In her free time, she loved gathering with her family at family reunions, holiday meals, weddings and graduation parties. Jean was an amazing cook and took delicious dishes everywhere she went. She will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her.

The family will receive friends from 2-4:00 PM on Sunday, November 10, 2024, at the Heavner and Cutright Funeral Chapel. The body will lie-in-state at Heaston Ridge Christian Fellowship on Monday, November 11, 2024, from 12-1:00 PM – the funeral hour, with Arnold Bennett and Pastor Terry Gower officiating. Interment will follow in the Heaston Cemetery.

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