Greg Walsh

Gregory E. Walsh, 83, of Chicago, IL and formerly of Barnum, passed away Monday, April 4, 2016. Gregory was born in Moorland, Iowa September 10th, 1932. He was the second child of six to Catherine (O'Hern) Walsh and Leo Walsh. Being raised on a farm made him tough. Combined with his considerable athletic abilities, he was a star athlete in his high school baseball, basketball and track. He Graduated from Drake University where Greg played college baseball as a Catcher. He also competed at the professional level in the Chicago Cubs Minor League ball club for one season before going into the Air Force to follow his true passion of Aviation. He was a Captain in the Air Force for 8 years and flew C130 transport planes. He also worked with NASA's original astronauts in the Mercury Project, and was thrilled to be the pilot assigned to return Wally Schirra's Sigma 7 capsule to Cape Canaveral Florida. Greg was proud to be a Captain with American Airlines for 30 years and retired at age 60. During his career as an airline pilot, he volunteered for Military Duty to transport troops to the Middle East during Desert Storm. Greg was a warm and loving father of his children. He coached middle school basketball and was well loved by his players and very involved in the community and St Catherine's parish. He was gregarious, outgoing, always had amazing stories to tell, and shared jokes followed by a loud and infectious laugh. Gregory was preceded in death by his son, Timothy Mark; and parents. He is survived by his children, Therese, Michael, Cecilia, Erin, Dominic, Timothy; the mother of his children, Jolene; his 11 grandchildren, Natisse, Genevieve, Mitchell, Keenan, Thomas, Cameron, Gabriel, Adrian, Sofia, Cruz, and Viviana; older brother, Leo, and younger siblings, Mark, Kevin, Sheila and David. Funeral services will be 9:45 a.m. Saturday, April 16, 2016 at Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home and a Mass of Christian Burial will then be at 10:30 a.m. at St. Matthew's Church, Clare. Burial will follow at St. Joseph's Cemetery with Military Rites conducted by the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard and the VFW Post 1856. A visitation will be Friday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home, with a vigil at 7:00 p.m. Memorials may be left to the discretion of the family. Visitation Fri, Apr 15, 2016 at 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home 307 South 12th Street Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501 Service Sat, Apr 16, 2016 at 10:30 am St. Matthew's Church