BILLY WALTERS - Key Persons

William Thurman Walters was born July 15, 1946, in the small town of Munfordville, Kentucky, where his grandmother raised him in a house with no running water or indoor plumbing. His mother, who was an alcoholic, walked out on her family shortly after his father's death, when Mr. Walters was an infant. At age seven, Billy Walters launched his first business when his grandmother, who worked full-time cleaning homes and at a restaurant, helped him secure a $40 loan from the local bank so that he could purchase a lawnmower. He repaid the loan within two years and graduated to his next business venture. He got a paper route, waking up at 4:30 a.m. every day to deliver papers before school. In addition to her work ethic, Walters' grandmother imparted her faith and devotion to the community around her to young Billy. A regular churchgoer, she brought Walters to services and/or Bible study on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Walters became a leader in the church youth group, ultimately reaching the level of Ambassador Exemplary. When Walters was 13, his grandmother passed away. Walters moved to Louisville to live with his mother and her new husband and their stepchildren. His mother relegated him to a room in the basement and charged him $10 per week in rent. Walters' mother was verbally abusive, and she and her husband often would go on benders and lock themselves in their room for multiple days at a time. Walters landed jobs at the Davis Doughnut Bakery, where he worked from 4:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. before school, and a Joe Graves Shell gasoline station, where he worked after school from 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Those experiences in his early life shaped the man that William Walters would become. He is hard-working, self-sufficient, and resilient in the face of adversity. But above all, Walters' childhood taught him the importance of kindness and generosity to those suffering, those less fortunate, or those otherwise down on their luck. An example of Billy Walter's character: When his mother contracted emphysema in later years, Walters paid her bills and ensured she was comfortable at the end of her life, despite the abuse he endured from her as a child.