Letcher Walker And The Birger Gang

	Bill and Betty Walker Strobel William (Bill) Strobel 1930 - 2001
A Email from Jerome and Julie Walker September 2006 Jerome Writes: "The woman center is my father's sister, my Aunt Bertha and the man to her immediate left is my dad Letcher Walker, the son of Gilbert Walker from Kentucky. The gangster on Bertha's right was as famous in Southern Illinois as Al Capone was in Chicago. I grew up hearing stories about him. My Aunt Ora said he once threatened to kill dad but didn't because he liked my mom. There was a long-running gang war between the Birger gang and a St. Louis gang called the Shelton's. They were still killing each other off into the 1950's. Birger was hanged in 1928. My sister Betty's husband, Bill Strobel's mother witnessed Birger's hanging at the courthouse square." Birger and his henchmen thought it would be fun to have their picture taken to look as if they worked in the shop. Its not hard to guess which ones didn't work there.		Charlie Birger was a Russian immigrant his name at birth was Shachna Itzik Birger. Read more about Charlie Birger

Vanieta, Letcher, Verna Burns (friend)

This was taken just before Letcher, Vanieta and Verna left for a trip to Chicago. Betty told me in a telephone conversation, that when it was time to come home, Verna stayed and became a manager of a store there.

Letcher Walker and Family

Letcher Walker

LETCHER⁶ WALKER (GILBERT S.⁵, JOSEPH FRANKLIN⁴, LEWIS CASS³, JOSEPH², CHARLES¹) was born May 21, 1905 in Webster County, Kentucky, and died Sep 17, 1954 in Buckner, Franklin, Illinois. He married VANIETA SUSAN BROWN Aug 23, 1925 in Harrisburg, Saline County, Illinois, daughter of FRANCIS E. BROWN and MAUDE DALE.

Children of LETCHER WALKER and VANIETA BROWN are:

i. JEROME⁷ DALE WALKER

ii. BETTY JUNE WALKER