Grace C. Walter of Savannah passed away peacefully on November 15, 2024. She was 90 years old and had lived a life full of learning, community, and love. Grace was preceded in death by her husband Paul, who was her devoted partner from their very first date as sophomores in high school until his passing in June 2023.
Grace was a fundamentally optimistic person, who was curious about the world and always up for adventure. Her love of travel and exploration started early with long car trips in the US, and really took off when she spent a year living in Germany in the early 1960s with Paul and their two small children. In the following decades they visited dozens of countries together, as well as nearly every US state. Grace tried sailing and snorkeling in Tahiti, camping in California, cruising in Antarctica, and clambering among Mayan ruins in Mexico. She loved trying different cuisines and learning about different cultures around the world.
But Grace also found plenty to explore closer to home. She was an avid reader, mostly fiction, and enjoyed studying and writing poetry. She was passionate about art and spent many years volunteering as a docent at the Telfair Museum. During her career teaching English in Saratoga Springs, NY, she encouraged her high school students to think critically and to appreciate literature. Music was also important to Grace, and in addition to singing in church choirs and other groups, she attended live concerts whenever she could. While her first love was classical music, she had a broad appreciation for a wide variety of genres, and would sing along to Simon & Garfunkel or James Taylor records, which were often playing on the stereo while her daughters were growing up.
Grace and Paul retired to Savannah in 1997 to escape the harsh winters in upstate New York, and then moved to the Marshes in 2011. They immediately immersed themselves in the community, enjoying the beautiful location and their comfortable apartment overlooking the marsh, along with all the activities, friendly neighbors, and helpful staff. Grace especially loved the water aerobics and yoga classes, as well as the poetry group. She was also an active volunteer on various committees. Grace deeply appreciated the support of her community after Paul passed away and enjoyed many meals, glasses of wine, and much laughter with a wonderful group of friends over the past year and a half. She was truly grateful to all the staff at the Marshes and the Oaks for their care and kindness.
She will be terribly missed by her community and many friends, as well as her family: daughters Katherine Bousquet (Franklyn) and Marjorie Walter (Tim Moran); grandsons Paul Bousquet (Rebekah Diamond) and Daniel Bousquet (Davida Fernández-Barkan); and great granddaughters Betsy and Lucy Bousquet.
A memorial service and reception to celebrate Grace’s life will be held at Skidaway Island Community Church on Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 10:00 am.
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Ben Oxnard
My sincere condolences to the Walter family. Grace was a wonderful, kind, gentle and intelligent soul. Our thoughts and prayers are with your family.