In this March 25, 2015, file photo, Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, speaks at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark. Walker, an Arkansas lawmaker and civil rights attorney who represented black students in a long-running court fight over the desegregation of Little Rock area schools, died Monday. He was 82. - Photo by The Associated Press ( The Associated Press )

Rep. John Walker, who died Monday at the age of 82 following a lengthy career championing civil-rights causes in the courtroom and eventually the Legislature, will lie in repose at the state Capitol on Thursday afternoon, his family said.

The late leader's son, John Walker Jr., said the service at the Capitol will begin at 11 a.m. on the second-floor rotunda and last until 2 p.m.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson will speak at the start of the service, his office confirmed.

Following the Capitol service, a family hour will be held from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church in Little Rock.

From 9-11 a.m. Friday, an additional viewing will be held at St. Mark Baptist Church in Little Rock, followed by a funeral service immediately afterward.

Walker, a Democrat who represented House District 34 in Pulaski County, will be buried Saturday in his hometown of Hope, his son said.

Hutchinson also ordered that flags be flown at half-staff this week in honor of Walker.

Walker will join another Little Rock civil-rights icon, Daisy Gatson Bates, in receiving the honor of lying in repose at the Capitol.

Bates, a journalist who aided the Little Rock Nine during the 1957 desegregation crisis at Central High School, died in 1999.

Others who have lain in repose at the Capitol include governors, lieutenant governors and U.S. senators.

Walker served in the state Legislature from 2011 until his death. Throughout his legal career, he represented numerous black clients in discrimination cases, including the legal fight to desegregate Pulaski County schools.

"He was a respected civil rights leader in Arkansas and across the nation, an accomplished attorney, and a tenacious legislator who stood up and fought for his beliefs," Secretary of State John Thurston said in a statement Tuesday announcing the Capitol service. "May God bless his memory and comfort his loved ones during this time."

Walker is survived by his children, Walker Jr., Pamela Walker, Dr. Patricia Newberry and her husband Huey, Murray Walker and Esther Bullard and her husband Kevin, in addition to 13 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.

Metro on 10/30/2019