Helen Walton’s True Legacy Will be Her Children (Worth Sparkman Commentary)

Staff writers for the Business Journal recently had the misfortune of writing about the passing of Mrs. Helen Walton, the woman behind the multi-billion dollar man.
It’s sad, but in this industry, sometimes you only learn about a person’s character once they’ve gone. Then anecdotes abound, and it becomes a grievous game of including what will convey the person’s story and balancing what’s fitting.
All-in-all our story was pretty straightforward: Mrs. Walton grew up in a Great Depression and Dust Bowl era Oklahoma, got her degree in finance from the University of Oklahoma (go Sooners), helped Sam Walton build the Wal-Mart empire and left a philanthropic legacy that will likely remain unmatched.
Oh, and she raised four children.
It was at Mrs. Walton’s public memorial this last point really hit home. Sure she helped change the lives of thousands of people through business and charity, but what about her kinfolk, the core 10 to 20 people whose lives she helped shape on a daily basis?
At the memorial, two granddaughters shared about Mrs. Walton from a perspective that moved me to tears. They knew her simply as a grandmother, a strong-willed, wise and loving person.
“It’s not the things in life you gather,” one of them attributed to Mrs. Walton, “but the things in life you scatter.”
That lesson seems to imbue the Walton family, in particular Mrs. Walton’s three surviving children:
Alice Walton, the youngest, is spearheading the $55 million world-class Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. I understand the permanent collection, which is already valued in the multi-millions, will be impressive on an international level and that the best is yet to be revealed.
The museum, ultimately, will be a gift of culture, education and quality of life to every individual who lives and raises a family in Northwest Arkansas.
Alice Walton dedicated the site of the museum to her late mother just two weeks after she died.
Then there’s Jim Walton, CEO of Arvest Bank Group Inc. I cover the bank on a regular basis and I’ve not talked to one single past or present employee who didn’t speak highly of the man.
Arvest’s assets have grown almost 2,000 percent in the last ten years, and the bank’s impact on Arkansas and Oklahoma — and soon to be Missouri and Kansas — in terms of economic stimulus and quality competition is incalculable.
His name is frequently mentioned in circles of folks who care deeply about the environment, and much of Arkansas’ future watershed will be influenced by him directly.
Less is known about S. Robson “Rob” Walton, chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. But a recent Fortune article about Wal-Mart’s “green” initiatives credits him with an “ah-ha” moment in 2004 that eventually led to Wal-Mart’s sustainability push.
Love it or hate it, Wal-Mart has the ability to affect change in American business. And because of it, the concept of sustainability is no longer the sole domain of “tree huggers.” It is a mainstream and profitable business practice across multiple industries.
I don’t know the Waltons on any personal level. But my grandparents were cut from similar cloth as Mrs. Walton: entrepreneurs raised in Great Depression and Dust Bowl era Oklahoma. So, if nothing else, I like to pretend I know some of the Waltons’ core family values, which I imagine include frugality, modesty and a diligent work ethic.
Mrs. Walton left a multi-million dollar trail of philanthropic foundations, buildings, endowments and much of her $36 million of personal stock in Wal-Mart will eventually be given to charities. But her true and lasting legacy will be the children she raised and the values she instilled in them.
The impact of the lives which Alice, Jim and Rob lead, and the lives their children lead, will influence Northwest Arkansas and the country for many years to come.

(Worth Sparkman is editor of Northwest Arkansas Business Journal. E-mail him at [email protected].)