Dorothy Wilma Spickerman was born 9 April 1914 to Reuben Andrew Spickerman and Ina Lillian Mason in Talala, Rogers County Oklahoma.¹ When she was a year old, the family moved to Norton, Norton County, Kansas, where she spent the rest of her childhood. When she was seventeen, she met Philip Walker and the two of them eloped 3 May 1931 in St. Francis, Cheyenne County, Kansas. Phil was born 28 April 1986 to William Robert Walker and Sadie Bell Strosnider in Wardensville, Hardy County, West Virginia. In 1913, his family moved to Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas, when he was little. He spent the rest of his childhood there. He dropped out of high school his freshman year because he was too busy working on the farm. When he was 17, his father dropped dead of a heart attack fighting a prairie fire started by a tractor in a field that he was getting ready to drill to wheat.

Shortly following the marriage, Phil and Dorothy settled in Goodland. Phil worked for Rock Island Railroad as a conductor in freight and passenger service while Dorothy was a housewife, taking care of their children. In the fall of 1961, Dorothy decided to return to high school, having dropped out of high school to get eloped. It was the right time because her two oldest daughters were now grown up and finished with college and her youngest was in junior high. Dorothy enrolled at Goodland High School where she attended school along with the regular high school students because there was no GED program in these days. She would go to school during the day and then come home to her family and fix them dinner and do her homework. The next year, she became the editor-in-chief of the high school paper and was a straight-A student. She graduated from high school in 1963 and now had a high school diploma.

Phil retired from Rock Island Railroad in 1971 after 44 years of employment. In 1991, Phil felt bad about the fact that he had never completed high school. He decided to go get his GED at the age of 85. The same year in August, Sherman County High School was having its reunion, which takes place every five years, and each graduating class gathers for the reunion. Because Phil had received his GED, he was able to be the King of the Reunion, which is an honor bestowed on the oldest students still living. In 1993, Phil’s health began to worsen. He already had emphysema—a result from smoking for many years—even though he had quit ten years earlier. He kept being admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, until a doctor discovered that it was lung cancer, not pneumonia. His health began to worsen, and he was taken to Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital in Denver. He died 12 November 1993 at the age of 87. His memorial service was held on the 16^th at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. He was buried in Goodland Cemetery. After a few years of living in Goodland, Dorothy decided to sell the house and move to Salina to be closer to two of her daughters’ families.²

They had three children:

Marilyn Walker was born 16 December 1933 in Goodland. She married her high school sweetheart James "Jim" Franklin Savage in Goodland. Jim was born 16 August 1933 to Chester Savage and Harriet Taylor in Clay Center, Kansas. They have three children:

1. David Stuart Savage was born 14 November 1959 in Denver. He married Kathy Sieboldt. They have two children: Taylor Elizabeth Savage (b. 22 August 1995) and Tyler Scott Savage (b. 10 September 1996).
2. Diane Sue Savage was born 3 November 60 in Denver. She married Duane Penny 18 July 1981 in Denver. They have two children: Curtis Layne Penny (b. 16 March 1987) and Cassandra Leigh Penny (b. 3 May 1990).
3. Janet Lynn Savage was born 2 November 1963 in Denver. She married David McGinley 6 July 1985. They have one son: Joshua Wade McGinley (b. 17 April 1986). Janet and David later divorced, and Janet married Scott Barnhardt. They have one daughter: Kelsey Lynn Barnhardt (b. 13 March 1995).³

Phyllis Diane Walker was born 12 April 1937 in Goodland. She married Robert Turley, but they later divorced. She married Robert Donovan Wilbur 21 September 1967 in Goodland. Robert was born 3 May 1929 to Oscar Wilbur and Mary Teresa in Salina. He was a widower, his wife having died of colon canver and leaving him with four daughters. Phyllis later adopted them and added to the brood two children. Their children are:

1. Christine Denice Wilbur was born 7 October 1951. She married David Heinsohn, and they have one daughter: Camilla Renee Heinsohn (b. 17 August 1976).
2. Jacquiline Therese Wilbur was born 1 March 1953.
3. Roberta Clarice Wilbur was born 18 February 1955.
4. Stephanie Allyce Wilbur was born 7 September 1965. She first married Mike Atkinson in Salina, and they have one son: Matthew Dalton Atkinson (b. 22 September 1991). She later married Greg Lollar 5 March 1994, and they have one son: Zackory Lollar (b. 14 September 1994).
5. Michele Lynn Wilbur was born 7 May 1969 in Goodland.
6. Lee Garett Wilbur was born 3 June 1974 in Goodland. He married Lori Marie Hermes 26 December 1996 in Salina.⁴

Rebecca Sue Walker was born 10 August 1949 in Goodland. She married Robert Duane Nordyke 20 May 1972 in Goodland. Robert was born 23 December 1946 to Robert Willis Nordyke and Cleora Greenwood in Canon City, Colorado. They lived in Pratt, Kansas where Rebecca gave birth to her first child. Two years later they moved to Wichita, Kansas. They have three children: Jennifer Rebecca Nordyke (b. 26 November 1974), Jessica Amanda Walker Nordyke (b. 6 July 1982), and Gregory Walker Nordyke (b. 27 April 1989).⁵