Walter Bastedo, Jr. was born Oct. 22, 1922, in Princeton, N.J., about 5 miles from Kingston, N.J. where his ancestor William Bastedo, who fought in the Revolutionary War, lies buried. Walter attended the Princeton public school system and, after graduating with honors, entered Princeton University on Aug. 4, 1941. He was in a war-time accelerated program, graduating Summa Cum Laude from Princeton as an Aeronautical Engineer on Apr. 4, 1944. He received the Phi Beta Kappa award, and was later appointed to the Tau Beta Pi academic society.

Upon graduation, Walter took a position as an Engineer with the N.A.C.A. (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), which later became NASA. As a member of the Army Enlisted Reserve Corps, he was sent to Langley Field, VA., to test early experimental jet aircraft models in wind tunnels, He was involved in work on both high-subsonic and supersonic aircraft models, and was among the first American engineers to learn about the German Luftwaffe?€™s test results with swept-back wings. Upon discharge, Walter returned to Princeton University for graduate studies, and married Barbara Catherine Manning in 1946. In 1947, Princeton awarded him a Master's Degree in Aeronautical Engineering.

On leaving Princeton, Walter was employed as a Supersonic Aerodynamicist with the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation (Now Grumman-Northrop) on Long Island, N.Y. Subsequently in 1951, Walter left Grumman to join a small helicopter company, Gyrodyne Company of America, in St. James, N.Y. Most of the helicopters Gyrodyne produced were small, remote-controlled aircraft for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) for the U.S. Navy. While at the company for 22 years, he rose to become its Chief Aerodynamicist and patented three inventions for coaxial helicopter control: "Atmospheric Static Pressure Detection Means"; "Directional Control System for Rotary Wing Aircraft"; and "Device For Controlling The Direction Of The Cell Of A Helicopter".

In 1977, Walter returned to work at Grumman until retiring in 1985, on the same day that Barbara retired. Walter and Barbara then moved to North Carolina on the outskirts of Hendersonville, where they spent 13 years together enjoying retired life. Walter Bastedo, Jr. died at home on April 6, 1998, at the age of 75 and was buried at the family plot in Princeton, N.J at the Princeton Baptist Church at Penn's Neck.