She died on the pair’s 57^th wedding anniversary and April 19 will mark two years since Margaret passed away. 

Her brain cancer came on suddenly.

“She had no signs of it … one day she went up the IGA store and a lady brought her home,” Mr Walker said.

“She said [Margaret] couldn’t find her way home.”  

She was later diagnosed with a grade four tumour.

Margaret had an operation and lived for six months. 

“Then I thought, ‘I’ve got to do something,’” Mr Walker, of Norwood, said.

He has known his friend Hugh Boyd since 1970. Mr Boyd also had brain cancer.

Mr Boyd felt unbalanced and “not too good” in July, 2008, and was diagnosed with brain cancer.

He is now in remission. 

Mr Walker said Mr Boyd was the only brain cancer survivor he knew. Mr Walker donated $17,000 to brain cancer research in January, bringing the total amount raised to about $45,000.

He has been raising money for more than 18 months. 

“When I first started out [fundraising], my goal was to make $50,000 by April 19, that’s when my wife passed away,” Mr Walker said. 

“We’ve still got a few weeks, we’re nearly there.”

Mr Boyd said his friend’s wife was a “wonderful woman, wife, mother [and] grandmother”, and he thought Mr Walker’s fundraising efforts were “fantastic”.

“Ron’s a guy that gets up and does something, he doesn’t talk about it,” Mr Boyd said.

“Fittingly, I suppose, I’m available to support Ron as an example that you can survive.”

Mr Walker first started raising money through NTFA football clubs, and raised money through a golf day at the Launceston Golf Course.

He ran a golf day last Friday with 80 players, which raised more than $8000 in five hours, all for brain cancer. Mr Walker said he was grateful and thankful to all who have given their time and donated to his efforts to help find a cure through funding research.