Died: January 17, 2010
Thomas George Walsh was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, on May 30, 1944 and passed away in Long Beach, California, on January 17, 2010. His parents were Dr. Frederick and Alice M. Walsh. The family moved to Long Beach, California in 1950, as his father became associated with St. Mary’s Hospital. Tom attended St. Matthew’s and St. Barnabas’ Schools before moving on to St. Anthony’s High School, where he won many academic honors.
Besides being a straight A student, Tom was very active in sports, especially baseball, in which he was a weak-hitting but superb-fielding second baseman. He also ran cross-country and pole-vaulted at St. Anthony’s, played a decent game of golf, and was a keen surfer.
In high school he took an interest in debating and journalism, even founding a news magazine written entirely in Latin. At Yale, he majored in English and also took courses in art. A passionate poet, he won the Yale poetry prize, named in honor of Albert Stanburrough Cook.
Tom was well rounded, multi-talented, and popular. He was made a member of The Pundits, a group of social critics and humorists, and at the end of his junior year he was tapped for Berzelius, the senior society.
Remarkably, he had offers to remain at Yale to do graduate study in three subjects: English, Art, and Architecture. But Tom wanted to be a writer, in particular a poet; and after graduation he pursued that dream, living briefly in San Francisco and New York City before returning to California. But during this time he gradually became incapacitated by illness that prevented him from realizing his outstanding potential.
Tom loved and was much loved by his parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews. He is survived by his brothers, Michael (Ginny) and Philip; and his sisters: Bernardine Curtin (Martin), Mary Walsh-Cole (Stan), and Heather Raasch (Bob).