Joseph M. Walters, who co-founded WBKO, dies at 95

Published 12:00 am Sunday, May 2, 2010

Joseph Monroe Walters, 95, of Bowling Green, died April 30, 2010, at a Bowling Green nursing home.

The Williamson County, Tenn., native was born Nov. 30, 1914. He was a graduate of Franklin, Tenn., High School and held a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University in electrical engineering. Joseph was a lieutenant for the Navy and served during World War II as an instructor in anti-submarine warfare and sonar. Following his military career, Joseph sold radio equipment for RCA. Joseph organized and operated WLTV, which later became known as WBKO Channel 13 in Bowling Green. He was past vice president for the TV March of Dimes and had been actively involved in such organizations as Kiwanis Club, American Legion and Amateur Radio Club and was a Kentucky Colonel. He had served on the board of directors for the Red Cross and Junior Achievement and was chairman of the Committee to Start Junior Achievement in Bowling Green. Joseph was a member of the Delafield Church of Christ and held his private pilot’s license. He was a son of the late William Walters and Lera Elizabeth Skalley Walters. He was preceded in death by a sister, Lucille Thermon.

Funeral arrangements, which are incomplete, are under the direction of Stoner Family Funeral Home at 1510 Campbell Lane in Bowling Green. Call 842-7373 for more information.

Survivors include two brothers, William Walters Jr. and his wife, Deloris, of Pulaski, Tenn., and Robert Walters and his wife, Pat, of LaGrange, Ga.; four sisters, Elizabeth Poulsen, of Brentwood, Tenn., Nellie Brown, of Bowling Green, Edith Young, of Plantation, Fla., and Virginia Cheek, of Brentwood; and numerous nieces and nephews.