John Walter (April 17, 1934 – January 5, 2018) was an American historian, engineer, businessman, author, and politician – as well as a first cousin to United States president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. He worked for

the Trump Organization The Trump Organization, Inc. is an American Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Privately owned by Donald Trump, it serves as the holding company for most of Business career of Donald Trump, Trump's business ventures and investments, with ar ...

and was the executive vice president of Trump Management, served as the historian of the

Trump family The Trump family is the prominent wealthy family of US president Donald Trump. The family is of Bavarians, Bavarian Germans, German and Scottish people, Scottish descent. They are active in business, entertainment, politics, and real estate. ...

, and was the 14th Mayor of

Flower Hill, New York Flower Hill is a village in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The eastern half is considered part of the Greater Roslyn area, which is anchored by the Incorporated Village of Roslyn. Western and north ...

Early life, education, and military service

John Walter was born in

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, on April 17, 1934, to William Walter and Elizabeth Trump Walter, the sister of

Fred Trump Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real-estate developer and businessman. He was the father of the 45th and 47th U.S. president, Donald Trump. Born in the Bronx in New York City to Germans, German ...

. As a child, Walter grew up in

Hollis, Queens Hollis is a residential middle class, middle-class neighborhood within the southeastern section of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Queens. While a predominantly African-American community, there are small minorities of His ...

, until 1958, when the family moved to 511 Manhasset Woods Road in the Manhasset portion of Flower Hill, New York. He attended St. Paul's High School in

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 23,272 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within the Town of Hempstead ...

, along with Admiral Ballard Academy, located in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. Walter received his BS in Business Administration in 1955 from

Norwich University Norwich University is a private university in Northfield, Vermont, United States. The university was founded in 1819 as the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy". It is the oldest of six senior military college, senior militar ...

, and earned his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1960. Between his undergraduate and graduate studies, Walter served two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He was stationed in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, as a second lieutenant.

Career

Walter built a burglar alarm company, National Security Systems in

Port Washington, New York Port Washington is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), No ...

, which both manufactured burglar alarm control panels and installed & serviced burglar alarm and access control systems in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

. Later, Walter began working with his family in

, and was the executive vice president of Trump Management, Inc. During this time, Walter helped his family set up All County Building Supply and Maintenance, which he operated from the basement of his home at 511

Manhasset Woods Road Manhasset Woods Road is a 1.16-mile (1.87 km) road in the incorporated villages of Flower Hill and Munsey Park in the Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It serves a ...

; All County was founded in 1992. The Trumps used this company for the maintenance of a number of Trump-owned properties – including the Beach Haven apartment complex in Brooklyn. Walter and the four Trump children each owned a 20% stake in All County; Walter also received a portion of the markup for his work creating the invoices. As an engineer, Walter also designed communication and security systems for the Trump casinos, hotels, and apartments in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Nevada, and New York City. In 1990,

Ivana Trump Ivana Marie Trump (; February 20, 1949 – July 14, 2022) was a businesswoman, socialite, and model. She lived in Canada in the 1970s, before relocating to the United States and marrying Donald Trump in 1977. She held key managerial positions ...

claimed in an interview that whenever Walter greeted Donald Trump in his Trump Organization office, he would click his heels together and say "

Heil Hitler The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute, or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened han ...

," possibly as a family joke. Walter was also the Trump family's historian, and managed much of the family's finances. Walter stored the family's financial records in his basement. Additionally, Walter served for many years as the president of the Flower Hill Association – a

civic association Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to ...

within the Village of Flower Hill. In 2020, Walter was mentioned in Mary L. Trump's book, '' Too Much and Never Enough'', as having helped his uncle,

, with

tax avoidance Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdictions that facilitate reduced taxe ...

schemes.

Mayor of Flower Hill (1988–1996)

In 1988, Walter was elected mayor of Flower Hill, New York. He served in this capacity until finishing his fourth term in 1996, when Derrick A. Rubin was elected as his successor. During his tenure, Walter was a key voice in the widening of Manhasset Woods Road, along with the rehabilitation of the Flower Hill Park, which at the time was owned by Nassau County.

Historian of Flower Hill (1996–2018)

After serving as Flower Hill's mayor, Walter became the village's historian. He served in this capacity until his death, and was succeeded by Rhoda Becker .

Personal life

Walter married Joan Smith at the Congregational Church of Manhasset in 1963. They had three daughters; * Christine "Christy" Walter, married to Robert "Bob" Weppler, three daughters * Nancy Walter, married to James "Jim" Kiley, a son and a daughter * Cindy Walter, married to Rod Frey, two sons Walter lived Flower Hill, New York, with his family, for the last 60 years of his life. He was an avid collector of

American coins Coins of the United States dollar – aside from those of the earlier Continental currency – were first minted in 1792. New coins have been produced annually and they comprise a significant aspect of the United States currency system. Circulati ...

and amateur astronomer.

Death

John Walter died on January 5, 2018, after a year-long

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

battle, at age 83. In April 2018, following his death, the Congregational Church of Manhasset held a memorial celebration in Walter's honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, John Whitney

Donald Donald is a Scottish masculine given name. It is derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinter ...

People from Flower Hill, New York 20th-century American engineers Mayors of places in New York (state) Politicians from Queens, New York 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Historians from New York (state) Columbia Business School alumni Norwich University alumni 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American male writers 1934 births 2018 deaths 20th-century New York (state) politicians