James Edward Walsh

James Edward Walsh, 75, of Indianapolis, died peacefully on April 30, 2023. He was born June 25, 1947 in Indianapolis, Indiana to the late James and Rosalyn (Gerlach) Walsh. He is preceded in death by his sister Joanne Gelfand, brother Phillip Walsh, and grand-daughter Cecelia Walsh. Jim was a graduate of Scecina High School and received his bachelor’s degree from Butler University in Radio and Television. After college, Jim traveled and worked around the globe. Wherever he went, he made friends, often life long ones. In London, he worked at a Mr. Submarine sandwich shop and his family still uses the secret sauce on sandwiches to this day. In Ottawa, Canada, Jim worked at CTV network. In the 80s, he traveled in a VW bus across Europe with his first wife and 1-year-old son. When he decided to settle down, he returned to Indianapolis, and purchased the house near Broad Ripple Park that would be his home until the end of his life. He continued his career in radio and television. He produced television for Channel 8 and radio for WIAN. He was the voice of WFYI radio and TV and also produced and hosted weekly radio shows titled “Jazz, Blues, and Reggae” and “Friday Night Radio” that gave listeners a range of musical styles impossible in the pre-internet, Top 40 era of commercial radio in the 1980s and 1990s. Jim also started his own video production company, Walsh Video, that specialized in legal videography. Jim loved traveling. He took his children with him on many memorable vacations, a weeklong train ride from Indianapolis to San Diego, a luxurious weekend in Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier, countless camping excursions to midwestern forests and parks. He loved festivals as well and every year would travel to Lafayette for the Feast of the Hunters’ Moon and Bloomington for the Lotus Music Festival. Jim joined the Muggleywumps, a group who found recreation in bocce, and relayed the game to his family where its practice became usual to summer holiday gatherings in Broad Ripple Park. As it was in his backyard, the park was a natural center for casual recreation for Jim and his family. Many fond memories arose from there: illicit model rocketry, impromptu frisbee tossing, and legendary Saturday morning baseball games. To preserve the character of this public land and the surrounding neighborhood, Jim served as President of Broad Ripple Village Association in the late 80s and was fond of his addition to the park’s play area he named the “Do Duck Inn.” In 1958, when Jim was 10 years old, on a lazy summer day, the image of the radio call sign “WITT” popped into his mind. From that day on Jim had found his purpose (or at least a good start toward one): he would build his own radio station. Reality took a while. But by the 90s, Jim had started a not-for-profit corporation named Kids First that was hoped would one day be the vehicle for the purchase or creation of a radio station. Later in the 90s, with a low-watt radio station streaming throughout Broad Ripple from his home, Jim continued to build the support, resources, and equipment needed to license and run a full-time, full-wattage FM radio station. In June 2009, his dream was fulfilled and 91.9 FM (with the call sign WITT) was launched - a truly unpredictable listening experience for people locally and worldwide on its streaming platform. He received the Mayor Community Service Award from the mayor in 2010 for this achievement. Throughout his life, he was close with his family, his loving mother Rose, his children, grand-children, radio friends and listeners, and his wife. He married Susan “Susie” (Guyer) Walsh on September 17, 2011. They enjoyed 12 years of happy marriage, doing crosswords, bird-watching, al fresco dinners, and time together. Jim was a member of Christ the King Catholic Church and later a follower of Franciscan traditions. Visitation will be Friday, May 5, 2023, from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. and the service will be Saturday, May 6, 2023 at 10:00 a.m., at Shirley Brothers Fishers-Castleton Chapel, 9900 Allisonville Road, Fishers. James is survived by his loving wife, Susan “Susie” Walsh; son, Joe Walsh; daughter, Angela (Brandon) Sorrell; step-daughters, Sophia McCormick, Brianna (John) Edwards; step-son, Warren McCormick; granddaughters, Ella Sorrell and Fiona Sorrell; step-granddaughter, Baylee; and brother, Joe (Diane) Walsh.

Tributes

James Edward Walsh

June 25, 1947 - April 30, 2023