Loretta Walker

Loretta Diane Walker of Odessa, Texas transitioned peacefully in her home on July 5, 2022, at the age of 63. Family was by her side at the time of death. Loretta fought a lengthy battle with breast cancer.

Visitation for Loretta will be held on Sunday July 17, 2022 from 3:00pm - 9:00pm at Martinez Funeral Home and Crematory.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Loretta on Monday July 18, 2022 at 10:00 am at Odessa High School - Fine Arts Building.

Loretta believed “kindness is a language in and of itself, and when children speak, listen.”

Loretta Diane was born in Dawson, Texas to Mary Agatha Walker on September 6, 1958.  She attended Carver Elementary, Blackshear Junior High, and Ector High School in Odessa, Texas. She received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Texas Tech University and earned a Master’s of Elementary Education from the University of Texas at the Permian Basin where she was an Alumnae Commencement speaker. Loretta Diane was also a featured Convocation speaker for the Ector County Independent School District. The Odessa City Council declared February 22, 2022 “Loretta Diane Walker Day.”

Loretta Diane taught Music for 39 years in the Ector County Independent School District at Reagan Magnet Elementary. She is the author of seven collections of poetry, most recently Day Begins when Darkness is in Full Bloom.  She is the recipient of the 2011 Blue Light Press Book Award and the 2016 Phyllis Wheatley Book Award for Poetry. “Out of circumstances bearing great difficulty, Loretta Diane wrote incredible poems of gratitude, wonder, and care.”

Loretta Diane was active in her community through membership in organizations such as the Odessa Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Texas Music Education Association, Permian Basin Poetry Society, Texas Poetry Society, Abilene Writers Guild, Texas Mountain Trail Writers, and the National Federation of Poetry Societies.

Loretta Diane is preceded in death by her mother Mary Agatha Walker, and her brother Raymond Walker.

Those left to cherish her memories are her brothers James Walker (Odessa), Chris Walker and wife Lisa (Odessa), Vincent Walker and wife Earnestine (Spring, TX), sister Kimberly and husband Mark Schiff (Odessa) and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives, and friends.

In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make a donation to Loretta Diane Walkers favorite three charities, the Rainbow Room, Harmony House, and Breast Cancer Society.