Agnes Marshall-Walker, 76, passed away September 13, 2010.  A memorial service was held on Saturday, November 13, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. on the University of New Mexico campus, in Domenici Auditorium on Tucker Avenue.

Agnes was born an identical twin on June 30, 1934, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  She received her RN from the James Ward Thorne School of Nursing of Passavant Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where she was President of her graduating class.  Soon after she received her BSN from Northwestern University, returning two years later to complete graduate work in curriculum development and neuropathophysiology.  Agnes graduated in 1969, while employed as a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Chicago Wesley Memorial Hospital.  She was later employed at Northwestern University as an Associate Professor of Nursing in both the School of Nursing and the School of Medicine, as well as Program Director of Neurosurgical Nursing (a graduate program for nurses specializing in the neurosciences). 

Agnes' accomplished career also included a position as the first Nurse Researcher at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago where she was highly commended for her work.  She was the principal Co-Founder of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses (AANN) and its second President.  She initiated and published the first academic journal for AANN, titled The Journal of Neuroscience Nursing. Agnes was a founding member of the Credentialing Committee for AANN and became its second President and a long term officer of the American Board of Neuroscience Nursing.

Agnes married A. Earl Walker, MD, in Chicago, Illinois on December 6, 1975, and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in December of the same year.

In continuing her esteemed career, Agnes was founder and president of the World Federation of Neuroscience Nurses and was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Nursing Science degree from the University of Panama.  She studied in London, England and in Toronto and Montreal, Canada.  She has given global level presentations on neuroscience nursing and research, has publications in recognized professional journals, recorded numerous nursing audiovisual presentations as well as authored several books.  Her last professional effort, due to the untimely death of her husband, was editing and publishing his book entitled: The Genesis of Neuroscience, by A. Earl Walker, MD, which has since been translated into Japanese.

In honoring Agnes' many achievements, an AANN Key Note Address is given annually in her name, as well as the WFNN awards research grant.  She has been a past President and Board Member of La Tierra Sagrada Society, as well as on the Advisory Board of the Ethics Department at the University of New Mexico.  She has periodically been asked to participate on the Search Committee to interview select faculty candidates for the School of Medicine.

Agnes was preceded in death by her husband, A. Earl Walker, MD, in 1995.  She is survived by her brother, Frank Marshall; step children, Earl (Chip) Walker, Carol Walker Jones, and Kristine Walker; step grandchildren, Cody Jones and Martha Walker; and several nieces and nephews.

Published in the Albuquerque Journal on Saturday, October 30, 2010.