Walter Charles Westerhold, 93, passed away Wednesday, October 28, 2015, at his residence in Starkville, MS, where he lived for 25 years. There will be a memorial reception from 2:00pm to 4:00 at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Starkville, MS on Saturday, October 31, 2015. Another memorial will be held at a later date in Madison County. Arrangements are entrusted to Lowndes Funeral Home, Columbus, MS. Walter Charles Westerhold was born January 22, 1922 in Wood River Township, Madison County, IL, the youngest child of the late Herman C. and Henrietta (Wille) Westerhold. He graduated from the Wanda School and East Alton-Wood River Community High School in 1940. His studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana were interrupted by his service as an LTJG in the U.S. Navy from 1942-1946. Walter met Ruth Elizabeth Meadows at a dance held in the Illini Union. They were married on June 1, 1949, and were married nearly 59 years when she died in 2008. They lived in Chicago, the St. Louis metro area, southern Illinois, and then moved to Mississippi in 1978. Over the years, he farmed, worked as a machinist for McDonnell, and taught in a four room school. On July 2, 2012, Walter married for the second time to Billie Jean Phillips, in Starkville, MS. In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his wife-Ruth Elizabeth Meadows Westerhold; sister-Ethel Gusewelle; and brother-Arnold Westerhold. He is survived by his wife-Billie Jean Phillips, Starkville, MS; daughter-Marsha (Mark) Ensminger, La Mirada, CA; son-Carl (Karen) Westerhold, Cary, NC; stepson-Bert (Shirley) Phillips; grandchildren-Lauren Westerhold and Eric Westerhold; 3 step grandchildren; and 4 step great grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36104, splcenter.org or MS Public Broadcasting, 400 Ridgewood Rd., Jackson, MS 39211, fpbm.org.