Lieutenant Commander Walter Maxwell Falconer (January 6, 1876-July 4, 1943) was an officer of the United States Navy.
Falconer was elected to The Lambs in 1909 as an Army/Navy member; at the time many military men were joining the Club from the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
He was born in Kansas and as a boy moved with his family to Cadiz, Ohio, and attended local schools there. His parents were Rev. William Campbell Falconer and Elizabeth Dickson Falconer. His father was pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Springfield.
Falconer resided in Springfield before he entered the military. He earned his Navy commission upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Class of 1897. He was detailed to New York as a naval cadet. Upon graduation he was assigned to the USS Albany, a cruiser, and sailed to the European Station.
He was later assigned to the USS Buffalo, a cruiser. Falconer was the paymaster of the battleship USS Illinois in 1904 when a grand party was held in Manhattan.
In 1908 Lt. Falconer was stationed at the Washington Navy Yard, in the Ordnance Department. He had previously been detailed to the Naval Gun Factory and was an expert in munitions.
He was also a member of the University Club of San Francisco.
The final ship he commanded was the USS Leonidas (AD-7) a survey ship in 1914. Falconer retired from the Navy in June 1914, after 14 years of service. His break from the Navy was brief as the United States entered the Great War in 1917.
Falconer was called back to serve in World War I. He first was aide to the Commandant of Naval District Philadelphia in early 1917. He was then sent to the battleship USS Vermont (BB-20) to serve as navigator. Falconer finished the war serving on the Receiving Ship New York in New York City until his release from duty in January 1919.
He retired to Springfield, Ohio, where he resided with his sister’s family.
Lieutenant Commander Walter Maxwell Falconer died July 4, 1943, at the Hotel Benedict in Washington, D.C. He was 67 years old. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, Section 6, Grave 9302-WH.
– Researched and written by Lamb Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, Club Historian.