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Wal-Mart Heir A 'Good Man'
(Page 1 of 2)

June 28, 2005



Wal-Mart Exec Shunned Fame

Wal-Mart heir John Walton at a banquet in Little Rock, Ark., in 1997.  (Photo: AP)

The scene of the crash in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.  (Photo: Bradley J. Boner/Jackson Hole News)

Members of the Walton family left to right, Jim Walton, John Walton, Rob Walton, and mother Helen Walton, applaud at a banquet in Little Rock, Ark., Friday, Sept. 26, 1997.  (Photo: AP)


(AP) Wal-Mart heir John T. Walton, who died in the crash of his experimental, ultralight aircraft, was remembered as a friendly man who threw his considerable financial support behind efforts to educate low-income children.

Walton, of Jackson, Wyo., crashed shortly after takeoff Monday from Jackson Hole Airport in Grand Teton National Park, the company said. The cause of the crash was not known and park rangers planned an investigation, officials said. Walton was 58.

"I think all you can say is he was just a good man and today, you grieve," Jay Allen, Wal-Mart senior vice president of corporate affairs, told The Morning News of Springdale.

Walton, the middle of three sons of Wal-Mart founder and Kingfisher, Okla., native Sam Walton and a member of the company's board, was a major advocate of school vouchers, supporting efforts to create taxpayer-funded ways for students to attend private schools.

Walton founded the Children's Scholarship Fund in 1998 to provide low-income families with money to send their children to private schools. The foundation started with $67 million from the Walton Family Foundation and benefited more than 67,000 children.

In March, Forbes magazine listed John Walton as No. 11 on its list of the world's richest people with a net worth of $18.2 billion. He was tied with his younger brother, Jim, one spot behind his older brother, Rob, who is Wal-Mart chairman, and just ahead of his sister, Alice, and his mother, Helen. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the world's largest retailer.

"I certainly have nothing negative to say about the man at all. He was a prince," said Walton's former wife, Washington County Circuit Judge Mary Ann Gunn. "He loved to build things. He loved motorcycles. He built his own motorcycle."

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© MMV The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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John Walton, one of the richest people in the world, died in the crash of an experimental airplane. He never sought celebrity status, instead using his name to help others, Bob Schieffer reports.
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Wal-Mart heir John Walton was killed when the homemade plane he was piloting crashed in Wyoming. The son of store founder Sam Walton was the eleventh richest person in the world.




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