William "Walter" Grace Jr., esteemed father and friend, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday October 1, 2026 as a Florida afternoon rain fell. Betting folks would say The Temptations (the originals) played as he walked through the gates. With him slips away another part of an Old Fort Myers he thoroughly canonized in his many stories he shared with anyone who spent more than 10 minutes with him.

Walter was born in Temple, Tx on March 11, 1944, a detail which he would never share with anyone as he was only brought into the world at that specific location because his father was stationed at Fort Hood to fix all the GI's teeth before they got shipped off. Walter grew up in a very different fort- Fort Myers, where his paternal grandfather (Papa) brought the family after apparently thinking the Florida panhandle was not remote or seasonably inhospitable enough for the Grace brood.

Walter was shipped off to McCallie Military School in Chattanooga, Tn at 14 after a conspicuously wild 8th grade year. From there he matriculated and moved on to Emory University where he spent plenty of time listening to Motown records and raising all kinds of assorted Hell with the brothers of SAE. From there he moved back to the Panhandle and got his Juris Doctorate as part of the inaugural graduating class of the Florida State University School of Law. Walter was then drafted and honorably served his country in Vietnam.

On returning home, he joined Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A. He eventually hung his own shingle next to his father’s at 2259 McGregor Blvd. On the personal front, his good friend Pat Geraghty, told him he had three women for him to choose from- a mother and two daughters! Walter fell in love with one of those daughters and they had their own daughter, Mary Virginia.

Walter's adult life was always busy with Florida State football- he was a season ticket holder and proud booster for over 53 years, practicing estate law, serving as president of Goodwill Industries, serving as the president the Fort Myers Rotary Club- he probably helped park your car at a Red Sox game, and serving as a trustee and an usher on Sundays at his beloved First United Methodist Church downtown, just like his father before him. Walter found many ways to serve the community he so loved.

Walter's final great act of service was as grandfather in two different arenas. One being Papa to Virginia's two daughters whom he got to watch grow up everyday and Two as everyone's kindly, generous to a fault "grandpa" at Schoenfeld Kyle and Associates.

Walter is predeceased by his father Walter Sr, mother Marian Schoolfield and is survived by his daughter, Virginia Grace Sisk and son in law, Benjamin Sisk, granddaughters Grace and Vivian Sisk, and brother, John Grace of Pine Island.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday November 7, 2026 at 11am at Cypress Lake Methodist Church with a reception to follow.

If you would like to make a remembrance in Walter’s honor please consider the Gulf Coast Humane Society and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.