Terry Durante’ Walls

For those of you who don’t know much about Terry’s life, Terry Durante’ Walls, was the eldest son of the late Willie Guy Walls a U.S. postal worker, and Emma Ruth Walls a home economics teacher. He was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina on the 7th of June 1954. When he was two, his family moved to Hempstead, Long Island, New York.

Terry shared that it was the rigorous educational system that attracted his mother and father to raise their family in Hempstead. During his years in the Hempstead Union School District, he became a stellar athlete in the sports of football, basketball, baseball, and lacrosse. Although he was a multi-sport athlete, Terry shared that his favorite sport was lacrosse. He continued to show his love for sports through his position as a High School Basketball Coach in Hempstead.

Terry attended college at North Carolina Central University on a partial football scholarship and majored in Political Science. During his time in college, he pledged Alpha Kappa Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. After college, he pursued a variety of endeavors in the corporate world while also serving his country in the Army Reserves from which he was honorably discharged. He finished his career in the Mortgage Banking industry in Cleveland, Ohio.

Terry made notable accomplishments in his career as a Mortgage Banker with Citibank and Fannie Mae. It was during his time at Citibank where he met his future wife, Melissa Joy Vickers. They were married in October 1992 in Queens, New York and enjoyed a happy union of 30 years. Terry’s job caused them to relocate from New York to Philadelphia, PA, to Dallas, TX and finally Cleveland, OH. Shortly after they moved to Philadelphia, their first child Jessica Alexandra was born. A new position with Fannie Mae moved them to Dallas where they welcomed their two sons, James William, and Terrence Gerald. The family of five continued to live and make many memories in Texas for a few more years until they decided to move to Cleveland to be closer to family.

Terry was an easy-going man who lived a life of integrity, compassion, self-discipline, honesty, fairness, respect for others, courage, a strong sense of responsibility, and most of all, love for his family and friends. He and his family made many memories in Cleveland where they were blessed with a community of friends who became their extended family. Terry is survived by his wife Melissa, children, Jessica, James, and Terrance, brother and sister-in-law, George and Valerie, mother-in-law, Dolores, sister-in-law, Karin, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Gary and Angie, brother-in-law, Maxime, niece, Kimberly, nephews, William, Christopher, Andrew, Jordan, and a host of cousins and friends.