Anthony and Zona Walter

Tony (1913-2012) graduated from NDSU in 1939. He worked at the Service Drug in Fargo, was a dorm proctor, played in the Gold Star Band and was a member of the Kappa Psi pharmacy fraternity. He served in the U.S. Navy, and was transferred to the Marines, as a medical corpsman (chief pharmacist mate), in the Pacific during the retaking of islands in WW II reaching the rank of chief petty officer. Returning to his hometown of Bismarck, ND, he owned his own drug store, worked for the Cowan Drug Store, worked as a representative for the Schering Drug Company, worked at the Plaza Drug, then owned the Pharmacy at the Q and R Clinic. He served as president of the State Pharmacy Association, member and president of the State Pharmacy Board and was recognized as the outstanding pharmacist in ND by the Marion Company, was selected the pharmacist of the year by the Kappa Psi fraternity and the State Pharmacy Convention was dedicated to him in 1986. During his tenure on the state board, he introduced a law for pharmacists to advise patients on the proper use and potential interactions of drugs they were taking. He also worked to enact the legislation that required pharmacies to be owned by pharmacists and followed its challenges through legal action before the US Supreme Court. He dedicated his life to the service of his patients; one New Year’s Day, he left home 14 times to fill and deliver (without charge) prescriptions to patients, many of whom were children. It was a time before 24-hour pharmacies!
Tony had many “interns” and “externs” from NDSU and believed in providing a scholarship for pharmacy students because of his own need to work for four years between high school and college to raise funds for higher education. He loved pharmacy and believed strongly in the integrity of pharmacists. He held a pharmacy license for 73 years.
When he was in his 90s, the pharmacy ownership law was challenged through a referred measure in a general state election. When I asked him how he felt about having something for which he had worked so hard become challenged, he showed the wisdom and the objectivity for which he was always known. He told me, “I have always done what I thought was best with the knowledge and the experience I have had. I expect you to do the same, even if your decisions are different than mine.” In the referral of the pharmacy ownership law that year, I voted to retain the pharmacy ownership and it prevailed.
My mother, Zona (1915-2001) and my dad Tony were married in 1941. She was an NDSU home economics graduate in 1939 and taught home economics for many years and worked at the Bismarck Hospital as a dietician. She was a gifted musician and wonderful homemaker throughout her life.
They both had unconditional love for me, their only child, and their two grandchildren, Dr.
Stephanie Gruchalla and Mark W. Guy. My dad was and will always be my hero and I followed
in my mother’s footsteps with a career in higher education.
My parents lived lives of faith, integrity and personal service. In the words of Micah, they
sought justice, loved kindness and walked humbly with God.