The Honorable Albert Charles Walsh passed prayerfully into death at his home in David City, Nebraska on May 3, 2009. He was born on May 15, 1926 in Beloit, Kansas, the eldest of five children of Charles Albert and Nora (Pierce) Walsh. Inducted into the Army on September 6, 1944, Judge Walsh saw combat as a rifleman in the infantry in Europe during 1945. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1946 and enrolled in Creighton University where he studied undergraduate literature and philosophy and graduated from the Creighton School of Law in 1952. Following graduation, he served in the law firm of Fraser, Connolly, Crofoot and Wenstrand until 1959, when he went into the private practice of law in Omaha and Gretna, Nebraska. In 1976, Governor James J. Exxon appointed Walsh a County Judge for District 2: Cass, Otoe and Sarpy Counties, where he served until his retirement in January 1993.
Albert and Eleanor (Shea) Walsh were married in 1949 at St. Patrick’s Church in Omaha, Nebraska, and are the parents of twelve children. Judge Walsh wrote, spoke and worked to further the Christian vision of political and social life in the United States. In 1969, he ran for Governor of the State of Nebraska as the candidate of the Christian Political Party. Judge Walsh founded the Christian Law Institute and Help of Christians Publications, Inc., authored seven books on the subject of the Christian social order, founded and edited the Christian Political Action Newsletter, was a columnist for his hometown paper, and was published in several Catholic journals, including Pro Ecclesia, Social Justice Review, and Christian Order. He was a member of the Nebraska Bar Association, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, American Legion, Third Order Carmelites, and served in various apostolates of his Catholic parishes.
He is survived by his wife Eleanor, daughters: Theresa and Lee Miner (Wakefield, NE), Anne Nielsen (Baltimore, MD), Patricia and John Rajewski (Lincoln, NE), Elizabeth (Lombard, IL), Dorothy and John Agnew (New Market, AL), Mary and Scott Buresh (David City, NE) and Virginia and Mark Lundahl (Wakefield, NE); sons: John and Donna (Creston, Iowa), Reverend Joseph (Hastings, NE) and Christopher and Barbara (Murdock, NE) 40 grandchildren, one great grandchild, and sisters Elizabeth and Luke Hecker (Denver, CO), Mary Margaret Walsh (Omaha, NE), Catherine Piotrowski (Omaha, NE), and brother William and Colleen (Sapulpa, OK). He is preceded in death by his parents, his infant son Marion Michael, his daughter Frances Marian, and his granddaughter Regina Anne Lundahl.
Funeral Mass will be at 10 am Thurs. May 7 at St. Mary’s Church in David City, NE. Visitation will be from 3 – 5 pm Wed. at Chermok Funeral Home in David City, followed by visitation at the Church at 6:30 pm with a Rosary recited at 7:30 pm. Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery in David City.
Instead of flowers, Judge Walsh asked that friends arrange Masses to be said for him and other Poor Souls in Purgatory.
Chermok Funeral Home in David City, NE is in charge of arrangements.