Walter F. Driscoll

Walter (Bud) Driscoll, age 102, died Saturday, April 1st, 2023, at the St. Elizabeth Hospice Center in Edgewood, KY.  He was the son of the late Bernard and Florence Driscoll (nee Fairbanks).  He was a WWII Army Private First Class combat veteran who served in Europe with the 8th Infantry Division, 121st Infantry Regiment.  PFC Driscoll landed ashore in Normandy, France as part of Operation Overlord and was seriously wounded in an explosion by pieces of shrapnel on July 14th, 1944.  He served on active duty for two years, was Honorably discharged due to his injuries and awarded the Purple Heart.  Predeceased by his wife, Madeleine Driscoll (nee St. Peters) to whom he was married for 57 years, and oldest daughter Joyce.  He is survived by daughters; Janice (Larry) Elam and Joan (Steve) Vijan, 9 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren. 

A 1938 graduate of Brighton High School, MA and the Alexander Hamilton Institute for business education in NJ.  His personal ambition quote in his HS yearbook was, “To be a successful businessman.”

He was Operations Manager for Simon Saw and Steel Company in Union, NJ (1946-1969), Vice President of Snow and Nealley Company in South Portland, Maine (1971-1973), President of Pneumatics System Inc. in Holliston, MA (1973-1976) He had extensive business contacts in all major New England industrial companies.

Instead of a slow retirement Walter became a licensed broker in commercial real estate. He was instrumental in the construction of several small housing developments in MA.

Walter was featured in World War II Veterans' Memories with Florent Plana, a series of documented interviews with surviving WWII veterans posted online.  He was an active participant in The New England Centenarian Study, a project by Boston University School of Medicine to better understand age and longevity.   He was a voracious reader, an avid blogger, and he traded the stock market daily right up to the day he died.  He enjoyed cutting out articles from the Wall Street Journal to share with the family.

He loved listening to music from the Big Band Era, gardening, and sunning himself for an hour every day.  Walter believed that, “every person sooner or later in their life will have a problem and it’s up to our fellow man to help him out.”

A graveside service with military honors, will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Monday, July 31, in Lakeview Cemetery, North Main St. Upton.