DeVries BPW names Alice Walsh 2009 woman in history

Walsh was recognized by the Delaware Legislature with proclamations from the House and Senate, presented by Sen. Gary Simpson, R-Milford. Former Dewey Beach Mayor Pat Wright also offered remarks about the time she and Walsh spent on Dewey Beach town affairs. Ann Athas, DeVries vice president, served as mistress of ceremonies, and BPW State President Maribeth Dockety, DeVries past president, read a biography of Walsh.

“Alice Stanford was born in May 1931 in Chester, Pa., and moved with her family to the small town of Spence near Snow Hill, Md., a few years later,” said Dockety. “She enjoyed a rural childhood, attended Snow Hill schools and graduated from Snow Hill High School in 1948. She attended Salisbury State Teacher’s College for two years and then enrolled at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore to train as an X-ray technician. She later moved to Lewes to take a job at Beebe Hospital and soon met her future husband, James T. Walsh.

“As a member of St. Edmond’s Catholic Church in Rehoboth, Alice Walsh was involved in the local Catholic school her children attended until it closed down in 1969. More recently, she was an active member of the Dewey Beach Lions Club, helping with various community service projects. She worked at a variety of jobs – bus driver, dog groomer, drug and alcohol counselor – over the years, and in the late 1970s and early 1980s, she became involved in the organization of the Dewey Beach Citizens Association, which worked toward the eventual incorporation of the town on July 4, 1981.”

In subsequent years, Walsh served on the town planning and zoning commission and on the board of adjustment, becoming its chairwoman. After an unsuccessful run for town commissioner in 1992, she was appointed at the end of that year to fill out the term of retiring Commissioner Bill Tansey.

She successfully ran for election in 1993 and served a two-year term as commissioner that ended in 1995. Walsh remained involved in Dewey Beach government and local community affairs in the ensuing years, and her devotion to the town she has called home for more than 55 years is evident.

“I speak my mind,” Walsh said. “It’s just the way I am. I’ve been doing it since I was 4 years old, and I prefer to think of it as a gift, though not everybody does. I do not judge people, but I don’t suffer fools at all, and I get really impatient with people who don’t listen.” While remaining involved in the community and expressing her concerns about possible changes on the horizon in Dewey Beach, Walsh still appreciates the friendly atmosphere of her adopted hometown.