Wally Died

I was looking at the Daily News website when I found a death notice for Wally from the Palouse Thunder football team. We played together some years ago. I knew he had cancer and things were getting bad. I didn't know however that he was in a Pullman-area nursing home due to it.

I notified Jerry and Jerid about it. Jerid is the league commissioner. He wrote something up and asked all teams in the league to hold a moment of silence before the Saturday game.

I went to the funeral home to talk to Bob about it. He didn't have a lot of information but was able to tell me that the funeral would be held up in Fernwood in Idaho.

Wally would always greet me when I would come into the locker room after driving from Seattle for the game. He was always very nice and friendly.

He played football and loved it. Playing for the Thunder was a great chance for him to get on the playing field again, and someone who knew him said it meant more to Wally than many of us would ever know.

In his final game ever he scored a touchdown and that was one of the best football moments he ever had. It was a big deal to him to score and everyone on the team was so happy for him. It was a great moment.