Maggi Cassell
Lesley Walsh was strong and loving woman, and a fierce friend. She spent her adult life caring for her family in her personal life, while being the office manager at a large publishing house in her professional life.
Lesley was born in Sacramento, Dec 5, 1932 – to parents Norma Carlsen and Walter “Doc” Bennett (a Chiropractor).
After high school in Sonoma, she thrived at UC Berkeley, graduating in the UC Berkeley class of 1954, with a BA in Political Science, and minor in English Literature. Lesley later returned to university to earn her Masters in History (Tudor-Stuart England) in 1969 from UC Berkeley.
She was a deeply proud, lifetime member of the UC Berkeley Alumni Association, and Women’s Secretary for the Class of ’54. She was passionately involved with her classmates, working on every reunion committee until her health declined in 2019.
Lesley filled her home with the personal histories of other people, her friends and family, treasuring and preserving their mementos and keepsakes. When she moved into a nursing home in December of 2020, her friends found that she had collected hundreds of greeting cards – wonderful, beautiful cards, for every occasion, and always with a wry sense of humor or playfulness. She also saved cards and letters she received from friends and family, preserving memories of their lives and times.
Lesley lived her entire adult life in San Francisco. Her aunt Amanda Carlsen owned a three story building in Vista Del Mar San Francisco, just south of the VA Medical Center, and several blocks from The Cliffhouse and Sutro Baths, with garages on the ground floor, and two flats above.
Lesley married Ronald “Ron” Walsh, the love of her life, and they moved into the lower flat in that building in 1959. Lesley’s aunt Amanda and mother Norma lived together in the upstairs flat for 30 years, and as they both grew elderly, Lesley took on more of their day to day care.
Lesley stayed in her home until December 2020, when she moved into a nursing home, and her friends closed down her home of 61 years, finding hundreds of photos and letters she collected, including her own photo documentation of travels with Ron to Europe, and Alaska, and their life in The City.
After retiring from her publishing career in 2000, Lesley kept working for various San Francisco Parks as a museum docent, in their gift shops and visitor centers, including the visitor center at the Presidio where she will be interred alongside Ron, a Navy Veteran of the Korean War era. Lesley cared for Ron at home through his battle with lung cancer until he passed away at home in 1996. Lesley carefully budgeted her fixed retirement income so that she could stay in her flat and still maintain her many ongoing donations to multiple San Francisco historical and artistic causes. She truly had a deep and abiding love of The City, and tried to take care of it, too, including being the secretary of the successful grassroots Citizen’s Committee to Save Golden Gate Park (an anti-freeway campaign) in 1964-5.
Lesley was a master historian of San Francisco. She could take you to an overlook, and make you see the buildings that existed there before the great earthquake of 1906. She could take you to the Japanese Tea Garden in the Park, and gently berate the grounds keepers for over-trimming specific decorative plants, because she had known those plants since they were seedlings. She could talk about the history of Tudor England with the same opinionated passion that she spoke of her friends and extended family.
Lesley was the mother to several beloved cats, and her collection of stuffed animals, especially her teddy bears.
Lesley passed away peacefully on Tuesday afternoon, January 16, 2024, at the "ripe old age" of 91.
She was a wonderful amateur photographer, and a prolific needleworker – creating pieces of fabric art using quilting, crochet, and needlepoint.
Lesley provided so much care to people in her life. We will miss her dearly, and remember her fondly!
Lesley was born in Sacramento, Dec 5, 1932 – to parents Norma Carlsen and Walter “Doc” Bennett (a Chiropractor).
After high school in Sonoma, she thrived at UC Berkeley, graduating in the UC Berkeley class of 1954, with a BA in Political Science, and minor in English Literature. Lesley later returned to university to earn her Masters in History (Tudor-Stuart England) in 1969 from UC Berkeley.
She was a deeply proud, lifetime member of the UC Berkeley Alumni Association, and Women’s Secretary for the Class of ’54. She was passionately involved with her classmates, working on every reunion committee until her health declined in 2019.
Lesley filled her home with the personal histories of other people, her friends and family, treasuring and preserving their mementos and keepsakes. When she moved into a nursing home in December of 2020, her friends found that she had collected hundreds of greeting cards – wonderful, beautiful cards, for every occasion, and always with a wry sense of humor or playfulness. She also saved cards and letters she received from friends and family, preserving memories of their lives and times.
Lesley lived her entire adult life in San Francisco. Her aunt Amanda Carlsen owned a three story building in Vista Del Mar San Francisco, just south of the VA Medical Center, and several blocks from The Cliffhouse and Sutro Baths, with garages on the ground floor, and two flats above.
Lesley married Ronald “Ron” Walsh, the love of her life, and they moved into the lower flat in that building in 1959. Lesley’s aunt Amanda and mother Norma lived together in the upstairs flat for 30 years, and as they both grew elderly, Lesley took on more of their day to day care.
Lesley stayed in her home until December 2020, when she moved into a nursing home, and her friends closed down her home of 61 years, finding hundreds of photos and letters she collected, including her own photo documentation of travels with Ron to Europe, and Alaska, and their life in The City.
After retiring from her publishing career in 2000, Lesley kept working for various San Francisco Parks as a museum docent, in their gift shops and visitor centers, including the visitor center at the Presidio where she will be interred alongside Ron, a Navy Veteran of the Korean War era. Lesley cared for Ron at home through his battle with lung cancer until he passed away at home in 1996. Lesley carefully budgeted her fixed retirement income so that she could stay in her flat and still maintain her many ongoing donations to multiple San Francisco historical and artistic causes. She truly had a deep and abiding love of The City, and tried to take care of it, too, including being the secretary of the successful grassroots Citizen’s Committee to Save Golden Gate Park (an anti-freeway campaign) in 1964-5.
Lesley was a master historian of San Francisco. She could take you to an overlook, and make you see the buildings that existed there before the great earthquake of 1906. She could take you to the Japanese Tea Garden in the Park, and gently berate the grounds keepers for over-trimming specific decorative plants, because she had known those plants since they were seedlings. She could talk about the history of Tudor England with the same opinionated passion that she spoke of her friends and extended family.
Lesley was the mother to several beloved cats, and her collection of stuffed animals, especially her teddy bears.
Lesley passed away peacefully on Tuesday afternoon, January 16, 2024, at the "ripe old age" of 91.
She was a wonderful amateur photographer, and a prolific needleworker – creating pieces of fabric art using quilting, crochet, and needlepoint.
Lesley provided so much care to people in her life. We will miss her dearly, and remember her fondly!
