The impact of Roosevelt “Rozay” Walker’s life was on full display Thursday as more than 100 family members, friends and associates gathered to remember him.
Walker was the founder and owner of Unkle Rozay’s Wings & Thingz. He started the restaurant in Memphis before relocating to Muskogee with his wife Demetra Wilkerson and expanding his business to Tulsa.
He died June 23, just six days shy of his 56th birthday.
During the service held at Tulsa’s Divine Love Global Outreach, the theme of his life was clear: He never met a stranger.
“That man taught me so much,” said Rene’ Bramlett, owner of Da’Shade Room Eyewear. She and Walker were business neighbors at The Boxyard in downtown Tulsa before it closed earlier this year.
“He lived in the book of Matthew,” Bramlett said during the service. “If you were hungry, I fed you. If you were clothesless, I clothed you. And if you were needing a place to lay, he would house them.”
“Every day he made a day of jokes and laughter. Even if we didn’t make a cent, he would still come over and say, ‘Get something to eat because guess what, it’s Rozay’s, baby,’” she said.
Sam Folks, one of Walker’s close friends, said he never saw him have a bad day and he was always working to help the less fortunate.
“Even when a couple of his business partners would say, ‘Ro, we just can’t keep giving away the food,’ Ro’ was gonna feed the homeless,” Folks said. “Didn’t care about how you felt about it, didn’t care who said what, but Ro’ was gonna feed the homeless.”
As he was remembered for his caring heart, there was no mistake that his “greatest joy was his family.”
“He was loud and blunt without a care in the world, he loved his family and he spoiled them girls,” a poem about his life read. Walker is survived by his wife and six daughters.
As they reflected on his memory, his daughter Zoe laid out how they should carry on his legacy.
“He taught me how to live my life but he never taught me how to live life without him,” she said. “He always used to say, ‘it’s a beautiful thing,’ so let’s not make this day sad and make it beautiful.”
The restaurant remains open at a new location, 6551 E. 71st St. in Tulsa.
