Thomas Martin "Tommy" Walters Jr., 74, of Wadesboro, died Monday, May 11, 2009, at his home. He was a gentleman; a patient husband, father and grandfather; a gardener and nurturer of all living things; an Army veteran; and retired owner of The Anson Press.

The family received friends at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 14, at Leavitt Funeral Home, with a memorial service following at 3 p.m.

A son of Thomas M. and Ellena Muse Dupree Walters, he was born May 16, 1934, in the home of his grandparents, Myra and Oscar Dupree, in Carthage. He attended school in Hamlet and graduated from Walter Bickett High School in Monroe in 1952. After Army service in Vienna, he graduated from Wingate Junior College in 1957, and studied and taught at Southern Institute of Graphic Arts in Nashville, Tenn., from 1957 to 1959. He settled in Wadesboro in 1959 and opened The Anson Press, a community print shop that he converted into an antiques store in the 1990s. He loved being with family, helping people, conversing with his many friends and collecting antiques and curiosities.

Tommy is survived by his wife of 52 years, Hazel Lee Walters; his daughter, Susan Walters Hallman; grandsons, Jason and Thomas; and son-in-law, Speed, of Hillsborough; a brother, Bill Walters, and sister-in-law, Elizabeth, of Marshville; and a sister, Eva Bivens, and brother-in-law, Ben, of Magnolia, Texas.

Memorials may be made to the Masonic Home for Children at Oxford, 600 College St., Oxford, NC 27565.

Leavitt Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Condolences may be made at leavittfuneralhomewadesboro.com.