May 6, 1925 – January 9, 2023

Petey Walsh
May 6, 1925 – January 9, 2023

The gentle soul of Ruth Helen “Petey” Walsh has peacefully left the confines of her physical being after a life of more than 97 years of loving and giving. Petey was born in San Rafael, California, May 6, 1925, to Victor William “Casey” Jones and Ruth Murray Jones. She graduated from San Rafael High School, College of Marin, and San Jose State University. Petey married John Joseph Walsh in 1948 and raised their two children in Santa Clara and Campbell, California. Petey spent summers with her children and friends at her parents’ cabin at Ridgewood (halfway between Carnelian Bay and Tahoe City) which they had owned since 1929. After her marriage ended, Petey took care of the old San Rafael family house until she ventured north to live with friend, John Beaudet, outside the town of Shasta Lake, California. There she volunteered at the Shasta Historical Society in nearby Redding, where she restored native American baskets and taught herself basket making, producing beautiful pine needle baskets of incredible quality. Petey later took up full time residence at her beloved Lake Tahoe in a new house built on the site of the old family cabin. She became involved with the Gate Keepers Museum at Tahoe City and was honored as a Pioneer of Lake Tahoe.
Eventually the winters of Tahoe made it difficult to live there so she spent winters on Guemes Island, part of the San Juan Islands of Washington, loving the quiet and solitude, and moving to Anacortes permanently in 2010 to be close to family. Everyone loved Petey. She had many friends who she always treated with kindness. Petey will be at peace in the universe with her parents, Victor and Ruth, sister Dorothea “Dodie” Jones Hill, and their brother, Deane Richard Jones, lost in WWII. Petey is survived by her son Michael P. Walsh (Katherine) of Foster City, CA, daughter Marilyn “Missy” Walsh-Smith (Gary R. Smith) of Anacortes, WA, treasured grandson Peter Deane Walsh Smith, nieces Colleen “Cokie” Nichols and Vicki Herring, nephew Scott Hill, and their families.
Special thanks to Lighthouse Memory Care and Hospice of the Northwest for the compassionate care she was given at the end of life.
At her request there will not be a funeral service. Remember her as you walk the beach or admire nature’s treasures.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the following are suggested:
Lake Tahoe Historical Society, http://www.laketahoemuseum.org
Hospice of the Northwest, http://www.hospicenw.org
Skagit County Meals on Wheels, marchformeals.org
or the charity of your choice