Alfred J. Walker was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 3, 1938. He died peacefully in his sleep on November 26, 2025 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Al was an indelible figure in the lives of many – leaving his mark as a kind, charismatic, brilliant, loyal, empathetic, and generous partner, friend, son, brother, father, grandfather, uncle and mentor.
A graduate of Arlington High School, Al went on earn a degree in psychology at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
He had a varied career, working for Northeast Airlines in Hyannis, Massachusetts, then for C.G. Hokanson, a manufacturer of aerospace equipment in Los Angeles. From there Al moved back to Boston to the financial services sector, working for the securities firm Hayden Stone & Co. and then for the investment banker and brokerage firm Tucker Anthony in Boston. He opened an antiques store in New Hampshire and started a greeting card company in Boston. In 1979, his love of art lead him to open Alfred J. Walker Fine Arts, an art gallery on Newbury Street in Boston. Al was renowned in the art world for his "expertise, trustworthiness, joie de vivre and exquisite eye." He specialized in American art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mounting important exhibitions, handling artists’ estates, showing in dozens of art and antique fairs, and appraising and sourcing work for private collections and major museums.
After thirty years in the art business Al retired to a beautiful estate in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts where he restored both house and gardens to their former splendor. He added a second home near the beach in Bay Saint Louis, Alabama and had just finished renovations when it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Undeterred, he moved to Natchez Mississippi where he again found an old classic house to restore.
Al was a true Renaissance man, with a deep love of art, music, reading, gardening, philosophy, history, politics, travel, food, conversation, and most of all, people, many of whom gravitated to this man with the big welcoming smile and twinkle in his eyes.
When he passed away at age 85, Al Walker had lived a good, long, and full life. His many friends will forever miss him. Rest in Peace, Al!