MARY DORSEY WALSH

Mom was born on June 25, 1915, the sixth child and third daughter of Katherine and Patrick (PJ) Dorsey. She grew up in the family home at the corner of Hamilton Street and Emerson Avenue on Syracuse’s Tipperary Hill. She had a wonderful childhood growing up with her many siblings and cousins who lived in the neighborhood.

Mom attended school at St. Patrick’s and Most Holy Rosary and graduated from North High School. She was a member of the Florimel Society where she made many friends – she was very good at that. After attending Powelson Business School she was hired as secretary for the Brand Manager of the General Electric Corporation.

Mom and Dad were married in May of 1943. Dad was a captain in the Army Air Corps and they moved several times, including Greensboro, North Carolina and St. Louis, Missouri, where Mom would discover the famous zoo which became the subject of many great stories she told us as kids.

Mom and Dad had seven children: Bill, Jim, Joe, Mary, Martha, Mike and Patty. Mom was first and foremost a mother and a wife. Our home was the center of activity for the Schuyler Street neighborhood because everyone was welcome. It was common knowledge that Mrs. Walsh was a lot of fun.

While Dad was Mayor she served as Syracuse’s gracious First Lady and involved herself in many community and civic organizations: the Heart Association, Republican Women’s Club, March of Dimes and, prophetically, the Cancer Society.

Mary Dorsey Walsh died on July 9, 1993 after battling breast cancer for seven years. She passed away peacefully in our summer home on Otisco Lake surrounded by her loving family. She can never be replaced and is missed a great deal, though her spirit, her wit and wisdom and her commitment to family live on in her children and grandchildren.