Raymond Walker, who died in a crash Sunday afternoon near Cultus Lake, was a leading businessman in Nocona, Texas — his lifelong hometown.

Walker, 62, and his wife, Mary Walker, about 60, were riding a Honda three-wheeled motorcycle east on Forest Service Road 40 about 2:30 p.m. when a Subaru Impreza swerved in front of them, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.

The Impreza, driven by Eric Ellingson, 23, of Sunriver, went out of control on a left turn, swerved into oncoming traffic, and then hit a tree.

Victim’s wife listed in serious condition

The Walkers were both thrown from the motorcycle in the collision.

Raymond Walker was declared dead at the scene, and Mary Walker was flown by AirLink to St. Charles Bend, where she was in serious condition Monday afternoon.

Ellingson suffered minor injuries in the accident. He was treated both at the scene and St. Charles Bend, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The investigation is ongoing, and the Sheriff’s Office does not expect an update on the accident for a few weeks, according to Lt. Scott Beard.

Walker owned several businesses in Nocona, a city of about 3,500 people that sits about 100 miles north of Dallas and just south of the Red River. Despite his success, Walker dressed modestly, often walking through town wearing coveralls.

“When they first got married, their first house had dirt floors,” said Tracy Mesler, the publisher of the Nocona News. “They never forgot their roots.”

On trip with friends from Nocona

Mesler said the couple had been in the Bend area on a trip with other friends from Nocona. The couples typically drove RVs to an area, towing their motorcycles.

The Walkers loved to travel, he said, and Raymond Walker was a pilot, with several aircraft, including a helicopter and a biplane.

“They’d just pick another part of the country and go,” Mesler said.

Over the years, Walker owned several businesses, including an appliance store, a repair shop and, most recently, Ray’s Used Equipment, which sells heavy machinery such as bulldozers and graders, according to Mesler.

“He told me one time, teasingly, that his goal was to own every bulldozer in the state of Texas at least once,” Mesler said. “The way he was selling them, he was getting close.”

The news of the couple’s accident reached Nocona late Sunday, Mesler said, and has since worked through the town’s grapevine. Mesler, for example, found out about Walker’s death while the he was at the scene of an auto accident.

The Walker’s crash will likely be front-page news for his weekly paper, Mesler said.

“This is one of those sad ones. I don’t know anybody in town who didn’t like him,” Mesler, who has been at the paper for about 30 years, said.

“This was one of the original nice guys.”