WALKER G. CHILDS

Walker G. Childs, 86, of Cape Girardeau, long-time supermarket owner, died Thursday, Jan. 21, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

He was born June 16, 1906, in Cape Girardeau, son of Curtis L. and Fanny Jane Walker Childs. He and Lona Jones were married Oct. 5, 1967.

Childs began his 50-year grocery business in 1930 on Emerald Street, which was destroyed by a tornado in 1949. In 1950 he built Childs IGA on West Broadway with his daughter and son-in-law, Betty and Gene Swob. In 1963 Childs expanded his business and opened Mr. C's IGA in the Town Plaza Shopping Center.

He also built supermarkets in Charleston, Chaffee and Sikeston, retiring in 1976. Childs had been an active member of Grace United Methodist Church 70 years. He was a past member of Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce, and past president of the Missouri Restaurant Association.

Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Betty Swob of Cape Girardeau; a stepdaughter, Glenda Rippelmeyer of Valmeyer, Ill.; a brother, Earl Childs of Cape Girardeau; four stepgrandchildren, and two great-stepgrandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a sister and brother.

Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Ernest Swartz will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park.

Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-8 p.m. today.