George Christopher "Chris" Walthall moved to his eternal home on Saturday, August 10, 2024. Chris was born to Dr. Joseph Harvey and Mrs. Alice Floyd Walthall on November 14, 1949, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Chris grew up in Little Rock as the eldest of three children; Chris, Dale Kelly (deceased), and Jay Walthall. He attended Hall High School through his junior year. His twelfth-grade year his family moved to Hot Springs, where his father was the new Superintendent of Schools. Although not completely sure about moving his senior year, he changed his mind when the first date he had as a new student at Hot Springs High School was with a petite blue eyed brunette named Joy Parkerson. Upon graduation in 1967, Chris attended State College of Arkansas (currently the University of Central Arkansas) where he joined Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.  While in college, he proposed to that petite blue-eyed brunette who became his wife the summer of 1969. Joy remained his number one girl for the next 55 years.

After graduating college, Chris moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he attended the University of Arkansas Law School. In 1974, he graduated law school which was the same year his first daughter, Amy Louise, was born. Upon passing the Bar Exam, Chris felt called to serve his country and joined the U. S. Army.  Chris served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) for the next four years. Once he completed his military commitment, Chris and his little family moved back to Arkansas where he joined the law offices of Glover & Glover in Malvern. His second daughter, Sarah Beth, was born soon after. In 1979, Chris set out on his newest adventure as the sole proprietor of the Walthall Law Firm. Chris practiced law in Malvern for the rest of his life. In 2024, he was honored as being a member in good standing of the Arkansas Bar Association for 50 years! Chris loved the law and loved seeing it applied properly and justly. Many of his clients utilized his legal services throughout the years and became his friends and extended family.

In addition to practicing law, Chris was an active member of the community. He served in various capacities with the Hot Spring County Chapter of Ducks Unlimited and he was an Arkansas Game and Fish Hunter's Education Instructor for both gun and bow hunting. Chris was also a Paul Harris Fellow in the local Rotary chapter. He served as the City Attorney for both Malvern and Rockport as well as a board member of the Lake Hamilton Fire Department. In walking out his faith, he was an active member of the First United Methodist Church of Malvern where he was a Sunday school teacher and longtime member of the choir. He also gave his time to the Board of Camp Tanako and the Noah's of Ark Emmaus community.

Chris' favorite things to do either involved his girls and their families or spending time in the great outdoors.  He told the best stories of adventures catching salmon in Alaska, and deer hunting in Kansas, or Colorado or Canada. He loved nothing more than watching the sun rise from a duck blind and seeing if he could call the birds in. His greatest joys came when he could pass on his love of fishing and hunting to one of his daughters and then on to his grandchildren. He and his hunting buddies have raised children together, grown old together and have loved and supported each other in every season in between.

Hopefully Chris' memory will live on through the stories he shared, the honest advice he's given and the all-encompassing hugs he gave. He is absolutely irreplaceable, but his legacy is seen in the unending love of his wife, Joy; his two adoring daughters, Amy Rogers (Mark) and Sarah Kremers  (Eric), and his six grandchildren, Caleb, Joshua and Allison Weed, and Clara, Evie, and George Kremers, who called him by his favorite title of all, "Pop".

Visitation will be held at the First United Methodist Church, Malvern, Arkansas , on Tuesday, August 13, from 5-7p.m.

Funeral services will be Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at 1:00p.m. in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church, with Dr. J. Earl Coker and Dr. Candace Barron officiating.  Burial with Military Honors will follow immediately at Oak Ridge Cemetery, all under the direction of J. A. Funk Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to Tri-Lakes Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), 324 E. Page, Malvern, AR 72104, or Family Farm, 18448 US 67, Malvern, AR 72104.

Pallbearers are: Rick Gartner, Paul Helberg, George Kremers, Larry Parker, Ben Parkerson, Jay Walthall, Caleb Weed, Joshua Weed, and Doug Young.

Honorary pallbearers are the members of the Godfrey Landing Hunting Club, lovingly known as the Cabin Crew.

Online condolence may be sent via jafunkfuneralhome.com.