Beloved husband, father, brother and friend, Edmond Walsh, 82, of Manassas, VA, passed peacefully in his sleep on April 28th, 2018. He was preceded in death by his parents John and Alice Walsh, his brothers Daniel and Jack, his sister-in law Marylin, and his half-sisters Patricia and Diane, his nephew Raffi, as well as by two of his life-long friends, Bob Clark and Kieffer Hnat. Among those who carry his memory forward are his wife of 28 years, Martha Walsh; his daughters, Kathy Matay and Christy Shannon; his sons-in-law Matt Matay and Mark Shannon; his four grandsons, Sam Shannon, Mason Matay, Michael Matay and Hayden Matay; his first wife, Dottie Walsh; his sister June Kovach with brother-in-law John Kovach and their family, his brother Jack’s family, and half-brother Pete with wife Mimi Kalamian and their family.

Ed believed in the importance of contributing to community and lived this value through his volunteer efforts as a member of Bull Run Unitarian Universalists and former member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax. Many a friendship was formed and bonded in those UU sanctuaries, over coffee and in meeting rooms. He volunteered as an adult literacy tutor with BEACON and also tutored some of Christy’s math students. He graduated from University of Maryland in 1963 and worked for many years as an Electrical Engineer. His longest tenure was with ST Research, beginning in 1983 until he retired in 1992. In each professional position he held, he was respected for his technical expertise and his iron-clad work ethic. Ed was consummately dependable and calm in times of crisis. He led by example, often reminding his daughters, by word and by deed, that it is important to be a person who will eagerly do difficult things. As a young man, he loved to ride his motorcycle (helmet optional ;) and ‘Captain Ed-hab’ was happy at the helm of his boat. In the 1970s, he was known to smoke a pack of cigarettes and then head out for a 3-mile run in his Chuck Taylor’s. He enjoyed watching and playing golf, ‘B-ball,’ skiing, and tennis. He loved his Washington Redskins, swimming in the ocean, fishing in the surf and the occasional bowl of vanilla ice cream with Hershey’s chocolate syrup. When the girls were young, Ed took the family on several memorable camping trips. One on Chincoteague Island involved a midnight raid by a herd of ponies (they only wanted the Wonderbread). Most importantly, if you were a person loved by Ed Walsh, you knew for certain that you were loved, because his every action spoke of his dedication to family and friends. He was our rock.

A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, May 29th at 1:00 pm at Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (BRUU), 9350 Main Street, Manassas, VA, 20110. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to BEACON for Adult Literacy or BRUU. Contributions to BEACON can be made online at https://beaconliteracy.org or via regular mail sent to 9535 Linton Hall Road, Bristow, VA 20136. Contributions to BRUU can be made online at http://www.bruu.org/?page_id=6317 or sent via regular mail to the address above.

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