Dorothy Joan Walsh

Mrs. Dorothy J. (Dottie) Walsh, 101, of Frederick, died on October 27, 2020.  She was the wife of John H. Walsh, who died in 1984.  Dottie and John were both born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.  They met there, were married there in 1947, and lived in Brooklyn until moving to Delaware in 1950, and then to Maryland in 1954.  In 2011 Dottie moved from Rockville – where she had lived for 50 years – to Frederick’s Record Street Home (RSH) to be close to her youngest daughter, Anne Spinnler.  Anne and Dottie’s family thank the RSH Board of Managers for their friendship during Dottie’s first 9 years there and the RSH staff who showed great compassion during this difficult year of 2020.

Dottie was born on June 5, 1919, to Walter Gucwa (who had immigrated from Poland) and Teresa Feltbinger (who had immigrated from Germany).  Dottie was the youngest of their six children – all of them born in Brooklyn, NY – where Walter was a tailor.  Besides her parents, Dottie was pre-deceased by her six older siblings: Mary, Anne, Jean, John, Florence, and Stanley.

Dottie graduated from Brooklyn’s Saint Teresa’s High School in 1937, and in 1941 she graduated from Hunter College in New York City.  She worked in Manhattan’s business district until she married John Walsh and raised their two daughters, Terry and Anne.  Later, after her daughters went to college, Dottie worked for 15 years as an accountant in the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s NOAA offices in Rockville and Silver Spring.

Dottie loved the beach.  From her daytrips to Coney Island as a girl, through her annual beach trips to Bethany Beach into her early 90s, Dottie enjoyed frolicking in the breakers.  She was well-known for her generosity, using much of her fixed income to rent a beach house for one week each summer, and treating her daughters and grandchildren to many special memories.  Dottie’s adventures also took her on trips to California, the Pacific Northwest, and Florida.

Surviving are her two daughters:  Anne Spinnler (and husband, Jack) of Frederick, MD, and Terry Kepler (and husband, Earl) of Prescott, AZ; six grandchildren: Joshua Kepler (and wife, Inwa), Jeanne Yost (and husband, Matt), Ben Kepler (and wife, Casey), Jake Spinnler (and wife, Sara), Dan Spinnler, and David Spinnler; and seven great-grandchildren: Owen Kepler, Levi Kepler, Ian Yost, Tanner Yost, Vivienne Yost, Charlotte Spinnler, and Claire Spinnler.

At Dottie’s request, no memorial service will be held.  Interment will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, MD. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Dottie’s name to the Record Street Home, 115 Record St, Frederick, MD 21701.