…Sacred Heart School teacher; 98
TEWKSBURY - Mrs. Veronica Christina (Walsh) Walsh, age 98, the Matriarch of a large well-known Tewksbury family, died peacefully on Sunday morning, May 8, at Sunny Acres Nursing Home in Chelmsford, after a very brief illness. She was the beloved wife of Hugh D. Walsh, who died in 1981.
She was born in Iona, P.E.I., Canada, in December 1917, one of fourteen children of the late Benjamin and Agnes (Rooney) Walsh. She graduated from the Prince of Wales College in P.E.I., and became a teacher. She and her late husband emigrated to the U.S. from Montreal, Canada, when she was forty-five years old, with a family of nine children. They came to Wilmington, briefly, and bought their Anthony Road home in Tewksbury in 1963 to raise their family. She worked as a sixth-grade teacher at the Sacred Heart Catholic School in Lowell, where she organized the annual school Spelling Bee. She was affectionately referred to as “Mrs. Bee” by her students and peers.
Mrs. Walsh was a devout Catholic, who in her early years in Montreal was co-founder of a Montreal Chapter of the Legion Of Mary. She remained a devout parishioner of St. William’s Church for her sixty years in Tewksbury.
She leaves her children, Hugh J.C. Walsh, in residence at the E.N. Rogers V.A. Hospital in Bedford, Brian M. Walsh of Haverhill, Jane M. Hazel and her husband Cornelius of Kew Gardens, NY, Barbara A. Walsh of N.Y.C., Gerald J. Walsh and his wife Jacqueline (Acquino-Fleming) Walsh of Nashua, NH, Kevin P. Walsh and his wife Linda Parks of Cold Spring, NY, Susan C. Hines of N.Y.C.; a son-in-law, Heikki Vuorenmaa of Arlington, MA, who was husband of the late Joan M. (Walsh); twelve grandchildren, including her primary caregiver for the past two years, James Hines, with whom she resided; two great grandchildren; her last remaining sibling, Imelda Tyler and her husband James of Wilmington; many nieces and nephews; and was also predeceased by her son, John G. Walsh.
Visiting hours Wednesday, May 11, from 4:00 until 8:00 p.m. in the Tewksbury Funeral Home, corner of 1 Dewey and 975 Main Sts. (Rte. 38) TEWKSBURY CENTER, Ph. (800 in MA or 978) 851 2950. Her funeral will begin Thursday, May 12, at 9:00 a.m. from the funeral home, followed by a Funeral Mass at 10:00 in St. William’s Church, 1351 Main St. (Rte. 38) Tewksbury. Burial will be in St. Mary Cemetery, No. Tewksbury. In lieu of flowers, memorials to St. William’s Church, 1351 Main St. Tewksbury, MA 01876 or Circle Home Hospice, 847 Rogers St., Unit 201, Lowell, MA 01852 visit tewksburyfuneralhome.com