On May 4, 2019, Walsh, who was 94 years old and from Staunton, Virginia, passed away in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. On March 19, 1925, Gwen Elroy was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her parents, Chesley and Elizabeth Furey Elroy, both passed away before she was born. Gwen attended the Bouve-Boston School, which is a part of Tufts University, and received her diploma after growing up in Waltham and Belmont.
Gwen relocated to San Francisco, California, where she worked as a teacher at the Katherine Delmar Burke School after having previously worked as a teacher at Abbott Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.
It was in September of 1950 when she tied the knot with Douglas Walsh, and shortly thereafter, she began a family by bringing into the world Kevin and Robyn. Gwen, her parents (Libby and Daddy Chet), and their children relocated to Staunton.
Virginia and settled there during the summer of 1962. During her time at Mary Baldwin College, Gwen was a coach for the fencing team in addition to teaching dance and physical education.
The year 1967 marked the completion of her master’s degree at the University of Virginia, and she continued to teach until the year 1990, when she finally retired. Gwen had a passion for the arts, and she participated in a number of local theatre performances as a costumer and choreographer.
She was a passionate photographer who also enjoyed painting, and she did a significant amount of her own processing in a darkroom located in the basement. Staunton Puppets was established by her and a group of her friends. They created their own marionettes and performed for local schools and events throughout the Shenandoah Valley.
