David Walsh, village fire and ambulance volunteer, dies

Walsh was a member of the Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps for 16 years.

Courtesy Walsh family

A young David Walsh with firefighters Brian Martin, center, and David Weinstein near right, operating at a Malverne Fire Command post in an undated photo.

Courtesy Walsh family

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David Walsh, a 44-year volunteer for the Malverne Fire Department and a 16-year member of the Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps, died Jan. 28, of complications related to diabetes. He was 63.

Walsh was born Nov. 7, 1952, in St. Albans, Queens, and his family moved to Malverne in 1961, where he graduated from Malverne High School. Despite battling diabetes since he was a teenager, Walsh quickly became a valued member of the Fire Department after joining it in 1972. He moved up the ranks through the years, from firefighter to assistant fire inspector, to warden of the fire council, and fire/police squad captain.

In June 2000, he became an active member of the ambulance corps. He earned a New York state EMT certification, and went on to become a paramedic. For years, he was the only paramedic volunteer in Malverne’s volunteer ambulance corps, which he led as president from 2003 to 2005 and again from 2008 to 2009. He was vice president from 2002 to 2003.

“Members of the Malverne Fire Department were very saddened by the loss of Dave Walsh,” said David Gildea, a department spokesman. “He was a great asset to our department, and will be very missed.”

Walsh married the love of his life, Carol Grant, on Nov. 20, 1977, and they shared their

life together in the village Walsh loved.

In February 2001, he was the recipient of the American Legion Post No. 44’s Law and Order award. Later that year, he assisted the New York Fire Department at ground zero as a paramedic.

From 2001 to 2002 Walsh was a paramedic for the Emergency Ambulance Services Corp. From 2002 to 2003 he was a critical care paramedic for Nassau University Medical Center, and then he became a paramedic for a physical therapy practice on the North Shore. Most recently, he was a watchman at the Town of Hempstead’s Guy Lombardo Marina, but had to leave the job due to health problems.

Walsh is survived by his wife; a sister, Kathleen, of Malverne; and a brother, Fenton, of the Bahamas.

In lieu of flowers, the family requested that contributions be made in Walsh’s honor to the American Diabetes Association or the American Kidney Foundation.