Edna Geraldine B. Walsh

Edna Geraldine "Gerre" Breit Walsh, 92, of Ottawa, Illinois, passed away Saturday September 5, 2015 at OSF St. Elizabeth Hospital in Ottawa, IL. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:00 Am Friday September 11, 2015 at St. Columba Church with Rev. David Kipfer officiating. Visitation will be from 4:00 to 7:00 pm on Thursday September 10, 2015 at Ottawa Funeral Home, with prayers at 3:45 pm. She will be buried in St. Columba Cemetery, next to her husband. Gerre was born October 15, 1922 in Chicago, Illinois to Fred and Edna (Keeley) Breit. She married Edward Walsh on December 23, 1942 in Evanston, Illinois; he passed away October 27, 2009. she and her husband owned and operated the Bailey-Walsh Funeral Home now the Ottawa Funeral Home for over 30 years. She was a member of St. Columba Church, Catholic Daughters of America, The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, PEO Chapter EH, Life Member of National Education Association. She was a former member of Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs Catholic Church in Sarasota Florida, Illinois Education Association, PEO, and Ottawa Women's Club. She belonged to the Manatee Chapter of American Association of University Women and El Conquistador Country Club. She was also a notary public in the state of Florida and a Florida real estate associate from 1976 - 1986. Gerre was a graduate of St. Mary's Academy Notre Dame in IN, National College of Education in Wilmette, IL, and did her post-graduate studies at Northern Illinois University and Illinois State University. She was a Red Cross Safety Instructor at Ottawa High School in the 1950's and conducted a pre-school swim class at Blackhawk Beach and at Da De Co in Dayton in the late 1950's and 1960's. She was a primary teacher and taught at Crow Island School in Winnetka, Leland Grade School in Leland, and Shabbona School in Ottawa. She is survived by her four children, Karen (Nelson) Nussbaum of Ottawa, Melinda (James) Bobco of St. Clair Shores, MI, Frederic Breit "Rick" Walsh of Palmetto, FL, and Brian Keeley Walsh of Bradenton, FL; three grandchildren, JB (Katie) Nussbaum of Glen Ellyn, IL., McKinley Nussbaum and Ken Chiang of Chicago, and James Robert Bobco Jr. of St. Clair Shores MI; four great-grandchildren, Gavin, Charlotte and Kennedy Nussbaum of Glen Ellyn, IL; and Chloe Chiang of Chicago; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. She is preceded in death by her husband Edward J. Walsh; one son, Edward Joseph "Skipper" Walsh Jr.; one brother, Frederick Breit; and two sisters, Bette O'Keefe and Virginia Cisco. Pallbearers will be Rick and Brian Walsh, Nelson and JB Nussbaum, James and James Jr. Bobco, Ken Chiang and Tom Teister. Memorials may be directed to St. Columba Church restoration.