Lexington Flags at Half-Staff Friday to Honor Guardswoman Killed in Crash

Lexington flags will be at half-staff Friday to honor a local teenager killed in a crash last week.

Keely Walsh, 18, of Lancaster, was the passenger in a vehicle driven by a 23-year-old man in Belchertown Sunday night, police said.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported the vehicle crashed on Route 202 at about 6 a.m. Walsh was pronounced dead at the scene. The man was hospitalized with serious injuries.

Walsh was a member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard and had been attending Mt. Wachusett College while working a couple administrative assistant jobs, according to her obituary.

Her funeral will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at Hope Chapel in Sterling.

Here’s Walsh’s obituary:

Keely R. Walsh, 18, died Sunday, December 14, 2014, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.

She leaves her mother, Wanda J. (Brackett) Walsh, of Lancaster; her father, Eugene Walsh, Jr., of Marlborough; a sister, Grace T. Walsh, of Lancaster; maternal grandparents, Kenny and Joan Brackett of Rangeley, ME; paternal grandparents, Eugene and Jane Walsh of Framingham; her boyfriend, Maurice Haywood, III, of Lancaster; aunts and uncles: Barry and Kelley Brackett of Rangeley, ME, Marlene and Mike Sexton of Marstons Mills, Laurel Gagen of Framingham, Jeannette and Peter Hanson of Ossipee, NH, and Andrew Walsh of Marlborough; several cousins, among them, Krista Melcher and her husband, Nick, and their son, Tanner; and many friends and comrades.

Born in Framingham and raised in Lancaster, Keely was a 2014 graduate of Nashoba Regional High School, Bolton, and was proud to currently be serving with the Massachusetts Army National Guard. In addition, she was attending Mt. Wachusett Community College, and working as an Administrative Assistant at Certified Boom Repair Service, Sterling, and at Ciccone Family Fitness, Clinton.

From the age of five, Keely was actively involved with the local 4-H Club, where she participated in the exhibition of beef cattle, and was a member of its Teen Exchange Program.

Keely’s funeral service will be held on Friday, December 19, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. in Hope Chapel, 35 Chocksett Road, Sterling. Burial will be private. Relatives and friends are invited to attend calling hours at the McNally & Watson Funeral Home, 304 Church St., Clinton, on Thursday, December 18, 2014, from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. For those who wish, the family suggests that memorial donations be made to the Worcester County 4-H Teen Club, c/o Nancy Andrews, 170 Paxton Road, Spencer, MA 01562, or to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675.

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Photo credit: McNally & Watson Funeral Home