Madeleine "Maddy" (Lamothe) Walsh

Madeleine Beatrice Lamothe Walsh died peacefully on August 3rd, 2020, after a graceful and determined journey with Alzheimer’s. With her huge smile, giant heart,  and infectious laugh, Maddy will be dearly missed by family and friends. 

Maddy was born in Southbridge, Massachusetts, where she grew  up with a large and loving extended family. Maddy graduated from Notre Dame Academy in Lowell, Massachusetts, and went on to Framingham State College where she earned her degree in education and received her teaching certificate. Maddy married Richard (Dick) Walsh in 1965 and they lived in Cambridge, going on to raise their four young children: David, Stephen, Jim, and Karyn in Belmont, Massachusetts. While Dick practiced law in Cambridge, Maddy devoted her life to her children. 

In 1968, Maddy and Dick bought a tiny cottage on Cape Cod, which became their true home.  They spent summers and weekends there  for the next 50 years, eventually moving over to a house around the corner from West Dennis Yacht Club, which became the center of their summer years. They spent so many happy summers there as a family, sailing, socializing, and relaxing. Maddy took up golf after moving to the Cape full time, taught Wilson Reading, and spent many happy hours surrounded by Dick, her children, and her friends, talking with a group of friends, and laughing her infectious laugh. 

Throughout her life, Maddy lived with open arms, enveloping the people in her life in bear hugs and welcome. Always, for  Maddy and Dick, friends became family, and their home was a place where friends stopped by to sit on the deck and talk or catch up over a glass of chardonnay. Maddy lived her life with a beautiful openness -- caring intensely about her children, their spouses, and her nine grandchildren. She reveled in the chaos of an overflowing house, large gatherings, Easter candy hunts, three foot tall Christmas stockings, and cooking eggs benedict for a crowd on New Years Day. When Maddy was diagnosed with Alzheimers, she and Dick moved to  Yarmouth, Maine, to be near Stephen. After 53 years of marriage, Dick died suddenly in September 2018 and Maddy moved to The Mooring, a memory care residence, where she was loved and nurtured by an incredible group of Care Partners until her death. Maddy lived largely, deliberately, and with such grace. Even as Alzheimers diminished her body, she brought warmth and joy to those around her, loving and being loved by family, Care Partners, and extended family. Throughout her journey, and particularly in the last weeks of her life, Maddy showed us all what it means to accept, to be strong, and to have faith. Her strength in recovering from coronavirus and in so gracefully managing the disease of Alzheimers affected everyone around her.  She died with the love of family and “friends who are family”  around her.

Maddy leaves behind her late husband Richard Walsh, her son David and his wife Christine and their children Aidan, Kaitlyn, and Sarah Walsh of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; her son Stephen and his wife Karin and their children Emma and Stephen Walsh  of Yarmouth, Maine; her son James of Dartmouth, Massachusetts; her daughter Karyn and her husband Greg and their children Drew, Josh, and Kasey Dillon of Barrington, Rhode Island; her brother James Lamothe and his wife Dawn  of Bedford, New Hampshire. Maddy was predeceased by her brother Robert Lamothe and parents Herman and Annette Lamothe. Maddy also leaves behind her aunt Gloria Reiske, numerous nieces and nephews, the loving Care Partners at The Mooring, and many family friends. 

A graveside service will be held in the Belmont Cemetery 121 Grove Street Belmont on Saturday August 8 at 10:00 AM. Relatives and friends invited. Due to COVID-19, masks must be worn and social distancing maintained.

Donations may be  made in her memory to the Alzheimer's Association 309 Waverley Oaks Rd, Waltham, MA 02452

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Madeleine "Maddy" (Lamothe) Walsh, please visit our floral store.