Gerard “Jerry” Walker, who co-founded Walker’s in 1987, nearly 40 years ago, died on December 9 in Norwalk, CT, at 76. His daughter, Sarah, one of three, was good to let me know and send along these pictures. Walker’s had a party to celebrate his life on January 3.

Jerry first purchased The Ear Inn — the 200-year-old tavern on Spring and Washington – in the late 1970s with his partner, Martin Sheridan. Then in 1987, he and Sheridan co-founded Walker’s on N. Moore and West Broadway, transforming the former Vic’s, a “shot-and-beer” bar, into the three-room restaurant that, as we know, is a neighborhood staple. (My husband and I named our three kids there, using the crayons and paper tablecloths to take notes.)

The pair would go on to open the 11th Street Bar, which still stands, and Souths on Church and White, which was later taken over by one of their bartenders and eventually closed in 2018.

“He was very funny, and had a great memory – both are very important in the restaurant business,” Martin recalled. “I miss his humor.”

Born on August 8, 1949, Jerry grew up in Yonkers, attended Manhattan College High School and graduated from Providence College in 1971 with a B.A. in history. His restaurant career began in New Haven, CT, in the 1970s, where he was general manager of the well-established restaurants Fitzwilly’s and Peepers.

The couple would go on to raise their kids at 90 Hudson until the mid-90s, when they moved the family to Chappaqua. He was deeply proud of his Irish heritage, a lifelong lover of the ocean and a devoted dog owner. In addition to Sarah, Jerry is survived by daughters Caitlin and Megan Walker.

“Jerry wasn’t just an owner of Walker’s, he was its soul,” the bar wrote on its Instagram. “From the moment the restaurant opened its doors in 1987, he believed Walker’s should be a place of warmth and belonging. He valued community over trends, conversation over spectacle, and hospitality above all else… Whether you were a regular for decades or walking in for the first time, you were welcomed like an old friend.”