Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Sept. 22 at the Barranco and Sons Severna Park Funeral Home, 495 Ritchie Highway, for Walter H. Wolverton, 88, a resident of Severna Park for 36 years, who died of Alzheimer's disease Aug. 23 at Heartlands at Severna Park.

Mr. Wolverton was born in Noank, Conn., on Sept. 22, 1918; graduated from Fitch High School in Groton, Conn.; and later attended George Washington University.

During World War II, he built submarines at the Electric Boat Company and served in the Air Force, in the Infantry and in the Occupation Force in Japan.

Returning from Japan, he went to work for the federal government in the housing field. He was employed in Washington, D.C., Buffalo, N.Y., and New York City and concluded more than 40 years of government service in Washington.

His lifelong interests included model railroads, hiking, camping, birds and boating, and he was recognized for his integrity, compassion and deep thought, his family said.

His passion for wildlife and the environment led him across the county as he and his wife, Ruthe Nash Wolverton, wrote two books, "The National Seashores" and "Thirteen National Parks with Room to Roam." Always supportive of preservation efforts, the couple entrusted a small island, Eagle Island, in Maine, to the Great Auk Land Trust.

For several years he and his family enjoyed spending summer at the cottage on the water at their Down East home in Maine.

In addition to his wife, surviving are two sons, Dean Wolverton of Poolesville and Adrian Wolverton of Jackson, Wyoming; and one daughter, Susan Wolverton Ligon of Williston, Vt.

Burial will be private. Online condolences may be made to www.barrancofuneralhome.com

As published on 8/26/2007 in The Capital Newspaper, Annapolis, MD