Anne Stahlberg Walsh
Anne Stahlberg Walsh, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend, passed away peacefully in Gloucester, MA on January 11, 2025. She was 69 years old. Anne spent her last days surrounded by her loving family and friends serenading her.
Anne was born in 1955 in Springfield, MA to Paul and Marguerite “Peggy” Stahlberg. She lived in Longmeadow, Massachusetts until the age of 5, when her family moved to St. Louis, MO, where Anne spent the remainder of her childhood. Anne was an adventurous and rambunctious child who loved riding and caring for her horse,Titian Gold. She and her family drove cross-country every summer to Cape Porpoise, Maine, where Anne lived briefly in adulthood. Anne met her husband, Tony, in Kennebunkport, when he was visiting the United States for the first time from London. It was love at first sight. After a week together, Anne and Tony wrote love letters across the Atlantic for 6 months before she decided to take the leap and move to London. They spent 43 years in a marriage full of love and devotion.
Anne had a passion for horticulture and gardening and earned a BS in Horticultural Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She enjoyed designing gardens and using gardening as a therapeutic tool to support others. She was a talented flower arranger, participating in the Hamilton Garden Club for many years and making dried wreaths which she sold at craft fairs. Anne built a gardening business, Mindful Gardens, through which she designed and maintained countless gardens in the North Shore. She hired both of her children and their friends as teenagers, sharing with them her passion for flowers and landscape design.
Anne’s life was full of music, as she and Tony joined the Solstice Singers when they moved to Hamilton in 1989, and participated in the celtic music scene on the North Shore. Anne and Tony hosted an annual Robert Burns’ Night at their home, where friends and family would gather to enjoy traditional Scottish foods, read poetry, and share music. She and Tony formed a music trio, the Knotty Celts, with their good friend Chris Leghorn, and they performed around the North Shore including aboard the schooner Thomas E Lannon. Anne shared her passion for music with her children, and the family would often sing in 4-part harmonies together at Christmastime.
Anne’s talents and passions extended beyond gardens and music. She was an accomplished bridge player, a devoted tennis enthusiast, and ardent supporter of performing arts be it professional or amateur performances or the creative endeavors of friends or family.
Anne will perhaps be most remembered for her heart of gold; Anne always saw the good in people even when others struggled to, forgave without a second thought, and encouraged others to do the same. After raising her two children, she started working in the public schools, serving as a paraprofessional in both middle and high school and returning to school to earn her Masters in Education.
Anne was an adoring mother to her two children, Kieran and Tegan. She instilled in them a love for music and nature, and emphasized the importance of caring for one another. She was a natural with young children and was adored by her grandchildren.
Anne is survived by her husband, Tony Walsh; son Kieran Walsh, his wife Lint Barrage and their children Nima (age 4) and Felix (age 2); daughter Tegan Polhamus, her husband Simon Polhamus and their children Malcolm (age 7) and Diego (age 4); siblings Winnie Smith, Larry Stahlberg [and his wife Susan “Taft” Stahlberg], Meta Stahlberg [and her husband Bill Schwab], Meg Crumbine; brother-in-law Dennis Crumbine; mother-in-law Brenda James; sister-in-law Christine Whitby; sister-in-law Allison James; and 8 nieces and nephews. Anne was preceded in death by her parents, Paul and Peggy Stahlberg and her father-in-law Rodney James.
A celebration of Anne’s life will be held on Saturday February 8, 2025 at The Community House in Hamilton, MA from 12-3pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Solstice Singers Scholarship Fund, at: https://essex.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1153
An annual scholarship will be given through this fund as the Anne S. Walsh Scholarship for graduating singers from Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School.
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Sincere condolences to you Tony from Phil and all the family in UK
Tony, Kieran and Tegan;
Kathleen and I want to offer you are deepest condolences. Anne was one of the finest women I have ever had the good fortune to meet. It was a blessing to have known her and to have called her a friend. She will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you.
So sorry for your loss, will be sorely missed by you all, I offer my love and prayers to you all. May she Rest in Peace 🙏🙏❤️❤️xxx
So sorry to hear of Anne’s passing. My condolences to the family – you are in my thoughts & prayers.