Obituary: John Thomas Walsh Jr., 73

John Thomas Walsh Jr., 73, of North Kingstown, RI died peacefully at home Sunday, May 17th, 2015.

Family and love of friends and people were Mr. Walsh’s greatest treasures and lifelong devotions. He was blessed with the ability to put those around him at ease with his warmth, his generosity, an insight from a book he was reading, or a joke, especially at his own expense. He was an outspoken and selfless advocate of those he loved, a leader by example, a man of ideals and faith.

He grew up and made lifelong friends in Providence, RI where he attended St. Augustine School, LaSalle Academy and Providence College, graduating in 1964. In 1967, he graduated from Suffolk University Law School, second in his class, and an editor of the Suffolk Law Review. He earned admittance to the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Bars before serving the United States in the RI Air National Guard. Following a clerkship for Justice Thomas F. Kelleher on the Rhode Island Supreme Court, he practiced law in Providence, RI for 48 years, predominantly at Higgins, Cavanagh and Cooney. A trial lawyer, he was recognized on multiple occasions over the past decade by his peers as one of the Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers in Rhode Island and a New England Super Lawyer. To his clients, The Man in the Arena.

Mr. Walsh was a stand-out basketball player at LaSalle Academy, and played through his freshman year at Providence College. Later in life he developed a love of golf, skiing and boating, mostly because these pursuits brought him closer to those he loved. He had a flawless record of attending all of the high school and intercollegiate games of his children, he was their greatest fan and a beloved and vocal member of the communities that supported those teams. He was a mentor to students at San Miguel School in Providence and a former member of the board of Butler Hospital. He served as the President of the Plum Beach Club in Saunderstown, RI, and was a member of Point Judith Country Club and The Dunes Club in Narragansett.

He was the husband of Patricia Hauck Walsh for 42 years, whom he met during childhood summers at Plum Beach and loved wholeheartedly. He was the son of the late John T. Walsh and Alice Monahan Walsh of Providence, brother of Marie Casey, Libba Choquette and Edward J. Walsh, and brother-in-law of their spouses the late Paul F. Casey, Paul J. Choquette, Jr., and the late Rosemary Flynn Walsh. He was the devoted father of John T. Walsh, III, Kathleen Walsh Dwyer, and Elizabeth Walsh Frissora, and father-in-law to their spouses, Meghan Davis Hely Walsh, Jeffrey S. Dwyer and Michael T. Frissora. He and Pat were so joyous with the arrival of their long-awaited grandchildren, Declan and Gordon Dwyer, Madeleine and John T. Walsh, IV, and Milly and June Frissora, the loves of his life and the drive behind his last two years.

Calling hours will be held Wednesday, May 20, 2015 from 4pm – 8pm at THE CRANSTON-MURPHY FUNERAL HOME of WICKFORD, 140 West Main St. North Kingstown, RI 02852. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday at 10am at Our Lady of Mercy Church, 65 Third St., East Greenwich, RI to which relatives and friends are invited.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to The San Miguel School of Providence, 525 Branch Avenue, Providence, RI 02904 sanmiguelprov.org or The Alice and Jack Walsh Scholarship Fund at Providence College.