The world was a kinder, brighter place for 94 years because of Marietta A. Walsh (nee Battaglia), who died on March 3, 2026, peacefully at home, surrounded by her four loving “helicopter” daughters. Born on Sept. 18, 1931, in South Bend, Indiana, the daughter of Salvatore and Rose (Guerrero) Battaglia, she moved to the West Side of Chicago at 6 months old. She attended Roosevelt, Lincoln and St. Mel grade schools, Siena High School, and St. Xavier College on the South Side of Chicago. The full scholarship to Xavier came with a two-hour commute … each way! After graduation she worked as a chemist for several years and then taught math at Providence High School after obtaining her teaching certificate.
She loved travel, and upon returning from her second trip to Europe in June 1957, she had the great good fortune of meeting the man she would share her life with for the next 63 years. Bob had just returned from serving in Germany during the Korean War and they immediately bonded over shared stories of the beautiful places each had visited.
They welcomed their first child in 1959 and by 1966 had five children. They lived in Ascension Parish for almost a decade and then moved to St. Giles Parish in 1969, at which time their household increased by one … Marietta’s father (the family was blessed to live with Grandpa Sam until he died in 1999, with Marietta as his caregiver.)
In 1971, Marietta and Bob helped found the St. Giles Family Mass Community. For more than 50 years, Marietta was actively involved in all aspects of the “Gym Mass,” also known as the “Donut Mass.”
In 1977, with encouragement and support from fellow church-goers, Marietta and Bob opened Logos Bookstore of Oak Park. For 24 action-packed years, the Christian bookstore – “More than books. More than a store” – thrived as a hub for family, friends and community members to shop, work and connect.
Beyond church and work, she was a self-proclaimed “people person.” She absolutely loved ice cream, reading, chocolate, gardening, volunteering, cheering on her children and grandchildren in all their pursuits, playing bridge, fresh flowers, praying for people, traveling the world (including visiting their three youngest daughters in the Peace Corps in Honduras and Senegal), watching movies, and playing double solitaire. Happy hour was always a good idea and she made the best spaghetti dinners.
Given the chance, she would have given away every cent she owned to worthy charities. She adored going to the symphony, live theater, museums, the opera, and taking advantage of many wonderful things living in the great city of Chicago offered. She spent many summer days at Apple Canyon Lake and many winter days in Naples, Florida. She spent the last four years living at Brookdale Senior Living in Oak Park, where she was happily relieved of the burden of grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning.
Marietta was the wife of the late Robert J. Walsh; the mother of Julie (Charles) Fabrizius, Marie (Kevin) White, Therese Cormack, Elizabeth Walsh, and the late Robert V. (Jim Jajkowski) Walsh; the grandmother of Luke (Kristen Contos) and Brian Fabrizius, Sean White, Bec and Melissa Cormack, and Aidan and Hannah Walsh; the sister of the late Vincent (Maureen) Battaglia; sister-in-law of the late Mary Jean (her best friend) and the late Robert Connelly, and the aunt and friend to countless special people.
Visitation will take place at 10 a.m., followed by the Memorial Mass at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 18 at St. Giles Church, 1045 Columbian Ave., Oak Park. Click here to access the livestream at Mass time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myzv6wiil0I.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Marietta’s memory to Sarah’s Inn (sarahsinn.org) or HEDAC (Honduras Educational Development Assistance Corporation, hedac.org) would be greatly appreciated.