Funeral To Be A Celebration
Submitted by N.O.V.A. July 2005
Times Picayune	06-18-1998


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Walter Feldman was one of those French Quarter characters who give the city its
distinctive flavor, so it seems appropriate for him to have a proper send-off.

"Walter the Wizard" will be remembered at a memorial service and jazz walk Monday
afternoon, and his ashes will be interred in the Kurt Kuhl Jackson Square Artists Tomb
in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1.

"Walter gave himself to the city," his friend Allison Allison said. "New Orleans became
his home, and the people of the French Quarter became his family. I would have hated
for him not to end up here."

Feldman moved here from New York, and for decades he was a Jackson Square portrait
painter. When he started having health problems and could no longer take the long hours
of sitting, he reinvented himself as a street performer.

If you were around New Orleans in the '80s, you probably remember the white-bearded
wizard who pushed a little wishing well on wheels through the French Quarter.

"He became an ambassador for New Orleans in the street," Allison said. "Tourists loved
to take pictures of him."

	Plans began early

After he died last Dec. 24, Allison and her husband, Russell Elliott, were determined
to give him a proper funeral. But they had no idea what that would entail.

He died without a will, with no family nearby, with hardly any money. They set up a
memorial fund for him and tried to contact far-flung nieces and nephews for permission
to claim his body.

"It's been about a six-month ordeal, but I feel every bit of my energy into this has
been sort of a debt repaid," said Allison, who is also a performer. "I owe him a lot."

Feldman was her mentor and a kind of father figure, too. He taught her to believe in
herself. He helped her find jobs. He showed her what is important in life.

"He was a kind, loving, wonderful person, and he touched a lot of people in this town,"
she said. "He was successful in ways that money can't buy."

	Service is Monday

When I wrote about him in January, I asked readers to send their memories of him to
Allison for a booklet she planned.

Here's one from James Ham of Kingsville, Texas:

"My wife teaches psychology. She knew Walter and told me, 'He's a psychologist, too.'

"We were talking with him one day and a young woman walked by. Walter said, 'Come, make
a wish.' She replied, 'I have everything I want.' Walter said, 'Then think of someone
else.' I then knew what my wife meant. I thought Walter's words were wonderful and have
tried to apply them to my life."

Feldman's funeral will be Monday at 1 p.m. at Professional Funeral Services, 1620
Elysian Fields Ave. Mike Stark will conduct the service, and friends will be invited to
share their personal "Walter stories."

A jazz walk around Jackson Square, led by "Tuba Fats" Lacen, will follow.

Allison's husband built a four-sided pyramid to hold their friend's ashes, and Allison
is looking for a suitable vehicle to carry it on the walk.

"Walter was a great recycler, so it needs to be something we find on the street," she
said. "We'll find something - a wagon, a baby buggy - and decorate it in a wizardly
way."

Monday would have been Feldman's 72nd birthday, and Allison wants his memorial to be a
celebration of his life.

"It will be a chance for all his friends to say goodbye," she said. "Walter would
really love this."