A memorial service for Cora Faith Walker will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, March 18, at Friendly Temple Church, 5545 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.
“The Walker family extends its heartfelt gratitude for the outpouring of condolences since Cora Faith’s transition on Friday, March 11, 2022,” a family statement read.
“Cora dedicated her life’s work to public service, social justice, women’s reproductive rights, and health equity access. She was an ardent advocate for women, children, and the underserved throughout Ferguson, the state of Missouri, and the world. Cora, always strident and steadfast in her devotion to meet the most pressing needs of her community, achieved so much because she put service to others before self.
“While we feel the loss of Cora deeply, we are comforted in knowing that Cora’s community service empowers and impacts the lives of so many families. We know her work will continue through the service of others.”
Walker, an attorney from Ferguson, Missouri, and policy chief for St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, died at age 37. The cause of death has not been announced.
Born in St. Louis, Walker spent her childhood in Tuskegee, Alabama. After earning an undergraduate degree from Washington University, she attended St. Louis University School of Law, where she received her law degree and health law certificate. Walker returned to Wash U as a member of the inaugural Masters of Public Health class at the Brown School of Social Work.
The talented Walker would go on to serve Ferguson, District 74, in the Missouri House of Representatives beginning in January 2017. She resigned in July 2019 and began working in Page’s administration.
Before joining the legislature, she was a faculty member at St. Louis University School of Law and the health law and policy fellow for St. Louis University’s Center for Health Law Studies. Walker also worked at the Missouri Foundation for Health.
Page issued a statement offering condolences to Walker’s family.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Cora Faith Walker. Cora walked into my office every day with a hundred ideas and the determination to do them. She was a passionate public servant who advocated for women, newborns, survivors of sexual violence, reproductive rights, seniors, and frontline health care workers. She will be greatly missed by her St. Louis County government colleagues and me. We offer our condolences to her husband, Tim, and her parents.”
Walker was honored by the Missouri Primary Care Association with a 2018 Champion of Community Health Centers Award for her work as a legislator on health care issues. She also was cited for leading efforts in the 2018 legislative session to extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum moms who are in need of services to address substance use disorder and for working with a group of legislators to find a bipartisan solution that was eventually signed into law to help fight the opioid epidemic in Missouri.
During the 2018 legislative session, she worked assiduously to secure passage of legislation that created the Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Board. Her legislation was incorporated into SB 819, which was signed into law. Beyond Housing, during their 24:1 Initiative event that year, honored Walker for her efforts to promote the use of trauma-informed treatment programs.
“We are all shocked and heartbroken at the sudden loss of an incredible friend and a brilliant advocate for so many. Cora Faith will be remembered as a fighter and a person who dedicated her life to making the world better,” House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) said in a statement.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office released a statement on Friday: “We in the office of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones are deeply saddened and shocked by the sudden loss of Cora Faith Walker. She was a fixture in the St. Louis region, a powerful advocate for her community, and a fiercely loyal friend to all who knew and loved her, especially to Mayor Jones. We extend our deepest condolences to her family and colleagues.”
During a Sept. 9 protest for reproductive rights at the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis, Walker commented, as a private citizen and protest organizer, after Mayor Jones spoke, “With leaders like Mayor Jones at the helm, this city can rise up for reproductive freedom and be a beacon of resistance for the attack on our bodies … We are unstoppable and another world is possible.”
Leaders of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri said in a tweet they grieve the loss of Walker and that their hearts are with her family.
“She showed us what courage looks like, how justice can transform our lives, and the collective joy of fighting for liberation,” officials posted on Twitter.
To honor Walker’s memory, her family has asked for donations to charities and organizations Walker supported: Nurses for Newborns, Jamaa Birth Village, Pro Choice Missouri, and the Veterans Community Project-St. Louis.
This week’s Political Eye: A community tribute to Cora Faith Walker