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Walton retired to busy life Photo by Jim Craven Mayor Bill Walton He also teaches, volunteers, remodels When Bill Walton retired, he didn't stop working. "You don't retire and sit on a couch and watch television. You don't retire and play golf," says the Central Point mayor. His philosophy: Retirement is the time to give back to society. Walton grew up in Medford, the only boy in a family of four. His parents, both smokers, divorced when Walton was 14. His mother remarried five times while he was a student at Medford High School; his father died from emphysema at age 55. Walton taught high school chemistry for 33 years in Fair Oaks, Calif., before moving to Central Point five years ago with his wife, Brenda. The 65-year-old mayor now works 20 hours a week on city business, spends 40 hours remodeling rental homes (he has four in the Rogue Valley), and continues to substitute teach and volunteer weekly with the SMART Reader and Junior Achievement programs. The Waltons have two grown sons and 11 grandchildren and care for two foster children. Walton proposed Central Point's tough anti-smoking ordinance to protect children from secondhand smoke and set an example that smoking is not acceptable. "There's nothing negative about this ordinance," Walton says. "It has nothing whatsoever to do with fining adults or adult rights. It's to deal with the most precious investment we have, our young people." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA