Walter J. Bamberg, a native of and lifelong resident of Montgomery, Alabama, died Friday, October 3, 2008, at his home following a brief illness. His parents, David J. and Gertrude Bamberg, one brother Chester L. Bamberg and a granddaughter, Elizabeth Dowe Franklin, preceded him in death.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Peggy Chesnutt Bamberg; three children, David B. Bamberg of Houston, Texas, Dale Franklin of Montgomery, and Matthew Bamberg of Birmingham; three grandchildren, Laura and Cameron Franklin, and Josh Bamberg, and one brother David Bamberg of Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Funeral services will be Monday, October 6, 2008, at 11:00 a.m. at Leak Memory Chapel. Burial will follow in Greenwood Cemetery. Visitation will be Monday from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the funeral home.
Pallbearers will be Cameron Franklin, Josh Bamberg, Don Bamberg, Joe Bamberg, Ted Bamberg and Richard Johnson.
Honorary pallbearers will be Joe Thomas, Steve Bamberg, and Sonny Gaspard.
Mr. Bamberg was an Army Veteran of the Korean War. His early employment included some twelve years in local radio and television, where he initiated a popular afternoon children's show called Captain Zoomar.
In 1964, he was appointed as Job Placement Director for the Rehabilitation Research Foundation at Draper Correctional Center.
In 1969 he was appointed as District Manager of U.S. Rep. Bill Dickinson's Congressional Offices.
In 1989, he was appointed by President George Bush as United States Marshal for the fifteen counties of the Middle Judicial District of Alabama.
He is also remembered by many for singing, having sung solos in many Montgomery Churches as well as winning the nationally televised Arthur Godfrey Talent Scout program on CBS.
He was also active in Montgomery political circles having been a candidate for the Montgomery City Commission and a member of the Montgomery County Republican Executive Committee.
Although he was dedicated, as an infant, in the Methodist Church, baptized as a teenager in the Baptist Church, and baptized again, as a young man, in the Church Of Christ, the baptism he cherishes most was when he, in his the middle-age, was baptized by the Holy Spirit and transported into the presence of God and his Son, Jesus! He has been transported again, this time to stay! Hallelujah! Memorials may be made to AGAPE or to one's favorite charity. Leak-Memory Chapel Directing.