Year Honored: 2006
Biography
Loretta F. Walsh was the first woman to serve as Chief Deputy in the New Castle County Sheriff’s Office from 1981 to 2009. She “streamlined the departments operations to realize taxpayer savings and improve constituent services, established training sessions for both the clerical staff as well as the public safety personnel, and was instrumental in updating the efficiency of the entire department.”
Prior to that role, Walsh had served on the Delaware Council on Crime and Justice from 1979 to 1980 as an agency representative. She was also the first woman to be the Wilmington Ward Chair, where she served on the 8th Councilmanic District for 12 years, and mentored Delaware Women Candidates for more than 30 years. Walsh was elected to the Wilmington City Council from 1985 to 1997. She introduced legislation dealing with the discrimination against the elderly, the handicapped, and the LGBTQ+ community and worked on the Westside Crime Initiative to establish a model for community policing. In 2004, she was elected to the council as an at-large member and served as President Pro Tempore from 2017-2018.
Walsh has been a foster mother and mentor for years and helped to found the Roberto Clemente Little League. She was also the first woman little league coach, coaching a team of 6- to 8-year-olds to win their divisional championship.
Walsh had another first, as the first woman to be appointed to the St. Patrick’s Day Society in 1993. She helped to organize food drives at her County Office for the St. Patrick’s Senior Center. In addition, Walsh is a member of the Women’s Democratic Club, the Humanities Forum, the NAACP, and on the Sacred Heart Village II Board. She is also a founder and committee member for the Opportunity Center Fashion Show, which raises funds for the Opportunity Center.
For her work, Walsh has been awarded the Jefferson Award from the Opportunity Center (2004); the Opportunity Center Founder’s Award (2005); the Burton Phelan Outstanding Service Award; the Dan Frawley Award from the St. Patrick Society; the Hunger Bowl Award from the Ministry of Caring; and the Quaker Hill Garrett/Tubman Award.
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Sources and Additional Readings
Delaware ephemera collection related to politics, policy, and government. Manuscript and Archival Collection Finding Aids. (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2022, from https://library.udel.edu/special/findaids/view?docId=ead%2Fmss0733.xml%3Bquery
Wilmington City Council. – Wilmington City Council. (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2022, from https://www.wilmingtoncitycouncil.com/council-members/loretta-walsh/
- Collections: 2006