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Msgr.
Martin Walsh
February
20, 2006 
VOL.
44, NO. 4Oakland,
CA
Msgr. Martin
Walsh dies in Oakland
after 63 years of priestly service
Msgr. Martin
Walsh, who served for over 30 years as pastor of two East Bay parishes,
is remembered for his gentle nature, generosity, talents as both a musician
and handyman, and his love of nature. The 90-year-old priest died Feb.
8 at Mercy Retirement and Care Center in Oakland.
During his nearly 63 years as a priest, he was an associate pastor in
parishes of the San Francisco Archdiocese and pastor of St. Leonard Parish
in Fremont and Corpus Christi Parish in Piedmont.
“As a pastor, we couldn’t have had better,” said Jackie
Compton, a longtime member at Corpus Christi where Msgr. Walsh was pastor
from 1978 – 1990.
“He had the parish debt paid off in no time. He was computer literate.
He was hands-on when it came to fixing things around the parish plant.
I remember one torrential rainstorm driving into the school parking lot,
noting someone hunched over. I walked over and saw it was Msgr. Walsh
cleaning out the drains in the school yard.”
The priest, recalled Compton, loved to play the organ. But he would only
play at night when the church was empty. “If you happened to be
walking by, you would think it was ‘Phantom of the Opera’
in concert.”
The pastor also took an anonymous turn in the area of generosity. “He
helped families with paying tuition for students in need, not to mention
his gifts to the missions,” she said.
A native of Montana, Msgr. Walsh attended St. Joseph College in Mountain
View and St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park before he was ordained
to the priesthood in 1943. He served as associate pastor at St. Rose Parish
in Santa Rosa, Holy Angels Parish in Colma, and St. Patrick Parish in
San Francisco before he was appointed pastor at St. Leonard Parish in
1959.
Named a monsignor in 1973, he also served in the California National Guard
and was a retired colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.
After his official retirement from active ministry, Msgr. Walsh continued
to help in various parishes and he visited the sick at Mercy Retirement
and Care Center as well as former parishioners, said Father George Mockel,
vicar general for the Oakland Diocese.
Msgr. Walsh will also be remembered for his love of hiking. “Many
young people and a few not so young people can recall piling into Monsignor’s
suburban van and going off to one place or another for a hike and a swim.
It was his way of doing ‘youth ministry’ long before the term
was in vogue,” Father Mockel said. The priest’s hikes throughout
California and Nevada continued to be a “staple” in his life
and routine even when he was well into his 80s, he added.
When asked to reflect on his ministry for his 60th anniversary in the
priesthood, Msgr. Walsh thanked God for being called to the priesthood
and “for the many happy years in that service.” He also wrote
that he hoped that he had followed the example of Christ who said, “’My
food is doing the will of him who sent me and bringing his work to completion.’”
Survivors include his sister, Eleanor Vanderbyl; nephew, Arthur Vanderbyl;
niece, Lenore Jensen, and several grand nephews and nieces.
The funeral Mass was held Feb. 13 at Corpus Christi Church in Piedmont.
Burial followed at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward.
