INKSTER, Lieut. Walter James ('Sonny')
Passed away peacefully at Credit Valley Hospital, Mississauga. Wednesday, May 14 at 4:15 pm. Survived by his devoted wife, Rita Marie and his two sons, Timothy John and Philip Mark. 'Sonny' Inkster was born in Collingwood and graduated (P.Eng.) from the University of Toronto in 1943, then enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy and embarked overseas on the Queen Mary. Walt served as radio operator on loan to the Royal Navy, notably on HMS Emperor and then later with 1790 Squadron on HMS Implacable. He returned to Canada on the Aquitania in September of 1946 with his bride of just two months, WRNS Rita Marie Walters of Wigan, Lancashire. Walt had first joined Bell Canada as a Pole Inspector in the summer of 1941. He rejoined the company in the fall of 1946 as an electrical engineer. In the early 1950s he was involved with the construction of both the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line and the Mid-Canada Line together with the American, and the Canadian Air Forces. In 1967 Walt became Chief Engineer, Toronto area, briefly, then was transferred to Bell/Northern Research Labs in Ottawa where he became Vice-President of Systems Engineering in 1971. From 1975 to 1983 Walt consulted for Bell Canada International, primarily on a long- term contract to upgrade telecommunications in Saudi Arabia. Honouring Walt's request, there will be no memorial service. For further information, please e- mail Walt's executor, Mark Inkster at minkster@nortel.com.