Friend and well-known Charlestown figure died today
By Will Collette
Henry Walsh, husband of former state Representative Donna
Walsh, died today, March 12, while under hospice care at South County Hospital.
He died with his family around him.
Our sincerest condolences to Donna and to all of their
family and friends.
Henry suffered a massive stroke while he and Donna were flying
back from a vacation trip where they got to enjoy some sun and surf instead of most of our
miserable February weather.
* * * * *
Henry and Donna moved to Charlestown 46 years ago after
Henry served three years in the Army. Here they raised their son, Henry Jr. and
became active members of the community.
He also put in several years as Charlestown’s Town Sergeant.
Henry was a hunter, fisherman, all-round outdoorsman. I have
a number of photos of Henry, but the photos with the biggest smiles are the
ones where he’s holding a fish or a shotgun or a fishing rod.
Henry was a world-class story-teller. Henry could regale a
dinner table or a room with stories about Charlestown of the kind you’ve
never heard.
Henry was the go-to guy whenever I had a question of about
Charlestown political history or wanted to know who was connected to whom. He was a key institutional
memory and he knew where all the bodies were buried.
Henry was a staunch Democrat and he helped and supported
Donna’s illustrious political campaign and worked to elect Democrats to local
and state office.
He could always be counted on to do his bit. I will always remember
how Henry donated one of his long-time valued possessions, a mechanical
duck-plucker, as an item for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee to sell
at its annual tag sale.
Despite the rarity, not to mention novelty, of a machine used
to take the feathers off of ducks (or other fowl), year after year, that duck
plucker just wouldn’t sell, much to Henry’s dismay.
In 2011, I promised Henry I would sell that duck plucker and
that I’d get a good price for it, too.
Sure enough, a guy wandered into the tag sale and did a
double-take when he saw the duck plucker on the table. He actually knew what it
was!
I asked him if he was in the market for one and he told me
that, yes, he had been searching for one for years.
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| Henry's duck plucker and the happy guy who bought it |
So we both knew a sale was in the offing so it was a matter
of negotiating the price. I don’t remember exactly what the final price was,
but I know the buyer was happy, and so was I that I could report to Henry that
I sold the duck plucker.
I don’t remember what number I told Henry – I confess
that it was a good deal higher than the actual number – but I will never forget
the look of glee on Henry’s face.
I will miss Henry. I will miss all those stories. I will
miss his encyclopedic memory for Charlestown political history. But I will
always remember that look on his face.
You will see funeral arrangements in the Westerly Sun and
Providence Journal soon.