Ethel was born on December 28, 1917 in Elbing, Kansas, the daughter of Caroline Rose and Daniel W. Schmidt.
She married Wilber Walker on April 30, 1939 at the Beulah Chapel in Augusta, Kansas.
Survivors include three daughters, Janice and Leonard Steider of Newton, Deanna and Gordon Sommerfeld of Newton and Judy and Bob Walker of Key Largo,Florida; two sisters, Hilda Speck of Wichita and Esther Doyle of Scottsdale, Arizona.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her spouse Wilber Walker, brothers, John, Ed, Walt, Marvin, Bill and Fred Schmidt; sister Luella Peters.
Memorials have been established with Bethesda Home or Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice.
Burial was held at the Walton Cemetery, Walton, Kansas.