Robert Roy Walsh

January 18, 1928 - April 4, 2024

Robert Roy Walsh, age 96, beloved husband of the late Marylou Hayes Walsh, died Thursday, April 4 at Connecticut Hospice in Branford.

Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to the late Robert and Helen Walsh, Bob spent his boyhood in the Stratfield section of Fairfield where he became renowned for organizing neighborhood activities like weekend camping bicycle trips to Long Island (they took the ferry across and back), and multi-day marathon bicycle races around neighborhood streets. For the rest of his life he maintained a penchant for organizing uplifting events of all types in whatever neighborhood he happened to reside. He is well-remembered, for example, as a founder of the annual Fourth of July parade around The Circle on Sachem’s Head in Guilford, Conn.

A true one-of-a-kind guy, Bob was a graduate of Fairfield Prep where he played varsity football. After graduation, Bob was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving in the Army of Occupation in Japan. On returning home, he enrolled at the recentlyformed Fairfield University where he was a member of the first graduating class. He remained a strong supporter of both the Prep and the University for the rest of his life. Among his many activities at Fairfield U., he was President of the Dixieland Jazz club, foretelling a lifelong enthusiasm for jazz in all its forms, but with a special penchant for the Dixieland and Swing era music. Whenever a solo by, say, the great Louis Armstrong or band leader Benny Goodman played on his ever-present stereo, he was known to crank up the volume and demand quiet from those in the room.

After college he began a career as a district sales manager for Bridgeport’s Warner Clothing Company, covering Massachusetts and Connecticut for many years. Later, he worked as a marketing manager for import firms in New York City.

In retirement, he was a tireless volunteer for many local and national organizations, including the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Agency in Florida and Connecticut, and the Mercy by the Sea Retreat Center in Madison, CT. He gave copious amounts of time to the U.S. Coast. Guard’s effort to restore the docking facilities and lighthouse on Faulkner’s Island off Guilford.

A dedicated sailor, he was a member of the Sachem’s Head Yacht Club and regularly raced his 28-foot Ensign sailboat, “Le Petite Bouche” in the club’s semiweekly series.

He was predeceased by his wife, Marylouise Walsh, his son, Peter Walsh and grandson, John Dowd. He is survived by a daughter, Regan Dowd and her husband Roger, of Natick, MA; a son, Thomas Walsh and his wife Cheryl, of Clinton; a brother, Charles Walsh, of Stratford, CT; and six grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and nine great-grandchildren. A memorial service and funeral mass will take place on Saturday, April 27 at 11:00 a.m. at St. George’s Roman Catholic Church, 33 Whitfield Street, Guilford, CT. We ask that donations be made in Bob’s memory to The Mercy Center, 146 Neck Rd., Madison, CT 06443.

Arrangements are under the direction of Thomas M. Gallagher Funeral Home, Stamford, CT (203)359-9999. To send condolences to the family, please visit www.gallagherfuneralhome.com