Michael Walker, 71, founded Genesis Healthcare in Kennett Square

Michael Walker was in his mid-30s when the health-care company he founded was getting too big for its offices in Kennett Square.

He had offers to move to other locales, but was committed to helping turn what was a tired little town in the 1980s into the sparkling suburb it would become.

“He didn’t put a cafeteria in the new headquarters because he wanted the employees to [patronize] area restaurants,” said son Sean, president of Kuzo, Foulk & Cleveland funeral homes.

“If you went through Kennett in 1984, and then went through there 10 years later, and continued,” said Sean, who was raised there, “you’d see that the transformation is pretty unique.”

Mr. Walker, who founded what is now Genesis Healthcare, died on Saturday, April 18, as a result of COVID-19 complications coupled with underlying conditions.

Mr. Walker stepped down as CEO of Genesis in 2002 to become a lobbyist on behalf of assisted-living facilities and nursing homes. He battled frontotemporal dementia with health-care worker Terrell Dorsey at his side at the Highgate living community in Paoli. The Walker family called Dorsey “a saint.”

“The days that Terrell wasn’t there, there was definitely a visible [void],” Sean Walker said. “Terrell is one of a kind. He definitely relied on Terrell and trusted him, and waited to see him every day.”

Mr. Walker was born in Auburn, N.Y., and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1970 at Franklin and Marshall College, where he also played football. “Cardboard helmets and leather facemasks,” his son cracked.

He got his MBA in 1980 and settled in Chester County with his wife, Kathy Schaeffer Walker.

Genesis was on its way to becoming a multibillion-dollar company when Mr. Walker decided to keep its roots where it all started. The company’s main building is named in his honor, and he helped expand the local YMCA. Kennett Square is more than just mushrooms, and Mr. Walker’s son said his dad was proud of what it has become.

“He put a lot of effort into a community that he wasn’t from,” Sean Walker said. “He made it his hometown. Some people say, build a runway to let people be successful. He built the whole freaking airport and then some."

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Walker is survived by daughter Cortney and four grandchildren.

— Ed Barkowitz, ebarkowitz@inquirer.com