Wally died November 10, 2019.

*This following post was put together by Dick & Gary Jankowski and Marshall Hall.

Wally and those of us who knew him, grew up in a northwest Detroit neighborhood in the 50’s, during the era of Doo Wop, Elvis, and The Milton Berle Show. It was a great place to live with streets lined with tall Elm trees, local shops, parks and even a movie theater, the Atlas where we went to catch the Saturday matinees with, The 3 Stooges, Laurel & Hardy and Flash Gordon.

Later on, in the early sixties, drive-ins like Daly's on Greenfield and others, became the local hangouts where rock n roll music blared from car radios and muscle cars ruled the streets. Many of us had reached driving age by then which changed our lives and made us mobile.

Wally was a regular at Daly’s. He was “kool”, in fact he was “very kool”, some might even say he was “ Hollywood Kool” and he wore it extremely well. Tall, good looking, tight Levi's, white t-shirt and blue suede shoes from Cancellation, would remain his trademark even after the long trendy style from the 1950’s had  ended. He was American Graffiti personified. He drove a poppy orange 55 fuel injected Chevy and there you have it. You might also say that no one looked better on a chopper than Wally,  not even Peter Fonda of Easy Rider fame.

In 1961, Wally met his match when he discovered Carol, you might say, by accident, literally! While driving his 50 Mercury he collided with another car driven by a friend of Carols. Both he and Carol ended up in the hospital, and it turned out to be the beginning of a life long journey for the two of them. If Wally was the King of Be-Bop, then Carol was his undisputed Queen. Inseparable for decades, each promoted the other for the role they played. Kinda like Burns and Allen.

They were married in 1962  and in the mid sixties moved out to California where they raised three kids, Jason, Tonya and Tami.

He and Carol came back to Detroit for a visit in 1968.  My brother Gary remembers them pulling through Daly’s in a jacked up ‘40 Ford coupe with a rumbling flathead motor. Outdated as his dress code, Wally made the hot rod as kool as it had ever been. Unbelievably, they drove the straight axle gasser all the way from California. It could have been the grand opening of the Route 66 nostalgia. They would return again  in 1989 to celebrate Marshall Hall’s birthday.

Most of us didn’t see them again until 1992 at a Daly Drive-In Reunion hosted by Tom & Trina Szott at their .Chrysler Jeep dealership in Taylor. It was without a doubt one of the best parties ever which drew over 150 people from the old neighborhood, as well as some from other states. Guests included the Reflections of, “Romeo & Juliet" fame as well as another Doo-Wop group known as, Street Heart who sang at the party. It was truly a memorable event that lasted into the wee hours that night and it seemed that no one ever wanted to leave.....

The best visual image Wally left us that night with was of him and Carol sliding into the back seat of Tom & Trina’s original black 57 Chevy, (a car they doubled dated in) and leaving the Daly Reunion. He still moved like he always had done and the wave goodbye is the “cat” we’ll never forget.

Some of us stayed in contact with them over the years . I was fortunate to have talked with Wally about a week before he passed away. He was always upbeat and as usual, always had a story or two about the old neighborhood in Northwest Detroit where we grew up. He was truly a walking storybook of the many memories that we shared. Wally was definitely one of a kind and will always live in the hearts of those who knew him.

RIP good buddy....