Anthon Walker McFadden
Anthon Walker McFadden
July 25, 2005 – March 5, 2022
Anthon Walker McFadden was born July 25, 2005, in Logan Utah. Walker was the youngest of 6 kids, Kelsey, Porter, Carter, Hattie and Belle and is the son of Robert & Tamara McFadden. Walker was your typical kid that loved adventure. When he was 1 year old, we moved from Logan to Fruit Heights where he epitomized being an active boy. We started to hike when he was very young. We used to hike up Adams Canyon on Saturday mornings with our family dog Watson. He loved being outside and spending time with his siblings.
When Walker was 5 years old, we moved back east to Easton Connecticut where he continued loving the outdoors. He fished with his brothers and loved following them around the woods behind our house. We loved being on the east coast. Our biggest gift from our time in Connecticut was our two new additions to our family. Joining us on our journey westward were 15-year-old twin boys named Brandon and Brendon. These boys helped complete our family as our west coast roots came calling. We eventually found ourselves in North Bend, Washington where Walker’s love of the outdoors really took root. We lived next to the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River at the foot of Mount Si. It didn’t hurt that our backyard was a national forest. We constantly found ourselves jumping off rocks or bridges into the crystal-clear waters of the North Fork of the Snoqualmie River. We would climb Mount Si behind our house or up to Rattle Snake a short 10-minute drive away. It was an outdoorsman’s heaven.
Washington is also where Walker was really introduced to sports. His older brothers were exceptional athletes in high school. Walker grew up watching them play football and lacrosse. He would go to their games, of course, but he would also go to their practices. The players and coaches alike all loved Walker. He started playing Jr. Wildcat Football under Coach Mark Norah. He was an amazing influence on Walker’s early love of sports. He was even interested in his life off the field; even though he was not of our faith Coach Norah showed up to Walker’s baptism with several of the players from the team. These decisions make an impact. Walker played for Coach Norah in the Jr. Wildcat program for 3 wonderful seasons where he was blessed to win awards and the hearts of those with whom he played. We were sad to leave Washington, but a job offer was in the works that took Walker and his family overseas.
Australia was packed with adventure. During his family’s 3 years there, Walker played 2 seasons of Rugby under Coach Rob. Coach Rob loved Walker. He saw something in him and challenged Walker to really step up and perform for his team. At the end of their first season together, the Southport Pirates found themselves in the State Championship game. Walker played his heart out and was not only blessed with the win, but he also awarded the honor of “Best on Ground”, which is the Aussie version of MVP for the championship game. The next year they made it to the championship game again only to lose in the final 30 seconds by 2 points. After the second season was over, Walker was given the opportunity to play for the All-Victoria Rugby team. He was the VERY FIRST non-Australian, non-Polynesian to ever be asked to play for the All-Victoria team. In the end, he declined as the games were on Sunday and even at a young age, Walker made the decision to pass on the honor in favor of a greater purpose. Walker was just naturally talented at sports and happened to have a high field IQ regardless of the sport he was playing.
After 3 years in Australia, Walker’s family moved back to the US and back to Connecticut where we picked up Angel, our final addition to our immediate family. Including Angel, Walker now had 8 siblings. The family felt complete. Instead of Easton, this time we landed in New Canaan. Walker started playing lacrosse right when we landed. It was an effortless transition back to life in the US and that was mainly due to his comfort and familiarity with team sports. Walker made enduring friendships effortlessly. With all the traveling and finding himself wearing the title of “the new kid”, Walker was fearless when it came to meeting new people. He loved large, and everyone knew it. You were a friend before he even knew your name. Walker was a gatherer. No matter where in the world he found himself, he could assemble a group of friends that just seemed to work as a unit. He supported and loved his friends. They in turn, loved him. New Canaan was a season of good friends and lots of laughs. As it turns out, we had one more move in us. Feeling the distance from our other children who were all living in Utah, we made the plunge and move west once again.
Utah always felt like home. We landed in Highland Utah and Walker started school at Lone Peak High School as a Sophomore. Immediately putting himself out there he started playing on the football team. He seemed to make friends fast, even for him. He found himself surrounded by great friends. They would go out to breakfast together, come home for lunch and get together in our basement 20 at a time. This proved to be a theme. No matter where we lived in the world, we always had band of youth in our home, Walker was always surrounded by people who made him laugh, loved to go deep in conversation and who were loyal to what they believed. There really are no number of words to describe the love this young man exuded. He lived as an example of kindness to others. From him, we learned how to love, walk uprightly before the Lord and laugh at ourselves. He was not perfect, but he was perfect for those that knew him. Walker will leave a giant hole in the hearts of all that shared time with him. In traditional team-sports fashion, he now plays for the Lord’s team; and as he proved so many times here on earth, we have no doubt he’ll continue to play fair, love his teammates, work hard and in the end, win the game!
Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 1:00 pm in the Alpine North Stake Center Chapel located at 1125 East Alpine Boulevard, Alpine, Utah. Interment will follow services in the East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo, Utah.
For those wishing to attend the services virtually, please use the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89825144414