James E. Edward Walsh, Jr.

James Edward Walsh, Jr., 74, of Cedar Falls and Waterloo, Iowa, passed away peacefully in his home on October 12, 2023.

Jim was born October 10, 1949, the beloved son of the late James and Florence (Schroeder) Walsh, in a large and loving Irish-American Catholic family of nine siblings. From lower-middle class origins on the South Side of Chicago, Jim grew to be successful as an attorney and businessperson. His greatest love was always his family, especially his wife Linda and his siblings, daughters and grandchildren.

Jim married Linda, his college girlfriend, in 1971; they celebrated 50 years together in 2021. Jim and Linda shared many years with lots of laughter and a commitment to building a joyous life for their family together. They also enjoyed extensive travels as well as many casual dinner parties with friends. Jim was a dedicated father to three daughters, Jennifer, Sara, and Annie. As busy as Jim was, he was always sure to spend plenty of time with his family, with family dinners at 6:15 each night, weekly date nights with Linda, attendance at school performances, and more. He was always available to his girls for advice or a beer (or both!). Jim regularly bragged about his children to anyone who would listen. Jim, Linda, and the girls shared many summer vacations together, from rustic cabin trips with extended family to boat cruises.

Jim was also an enthusiastic grandfather. He loved taking his first grandson James, his namesake, all around town with him. With Robert he would explore the backyard, play in the sandbox, or endure lengthy viewing of silly cartoons. The boys learned to appreciate old-fashioned candies, an Irish pub and a German beer garden. Jim loved to see the kids' excitement, and he was a kid at heart, making their childhoods so much more fun and magical than they would have been otherwise. Jim was only able to meet his new granddaughter, Betty, a few times in her first weeks of life, but he made sure to count all her fingers and toes, and she will hear a lot of stories of her grandfather when she gets older.

From an early age, Jim was driven to excel and work hard. He always held multiple jobs, including early jobs as a clerk at his uncle's store, as an ice-cream truck man and even bartending at a bowling alley with his father.

Jim graduated from the University of Illinois-Chicago with his bachelor's degree in 1971 and earned his law degree from Loyola University in 1975. When Linda became a professor at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Jim first thought he was moving to Idaho, but he quickly became a successful trial lawyer in his new Cedar Valley home. He worked in the firm Clark, Butler, Walsh & Hamann, and his areas of expertise included municipal, banking, medical malpractice, insurance defense, and corporate law. He was a Fellow of the Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers. Jim also served as city attorney for Waterloo from 1992 to 2014, a time frame spanning five mayors and 20 city councils.

Jim became the first investor in the business envisioned by his best friend, Van G. Miller, which grew into VGM & Associates, the nation's largest member-service organization for post-acute medical equipment. He was an integral advisor to Van as the business grew, becoming the business's legal counsel in 1996. He became Chairman of the Board of VGM upon Van's death in 2015, shepherding the transition to new leadership. He was the visionary in many strategies at VGM, including the development of insurance for home medical equipment providers, the spearheading of more than 20 acquisitions, the design of VGM's campus in Waterloo and the creation of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). VGM Group, Inc., now has more than 900 employees who provide services to more than 25,000 companies across the country. It also has restaurant, golf, insurance and other holdings. Jim was honored as the Van Miller Homecare Champion by the American Association of Homecare in 2022.

Through JSA Development, LLC-named with the initials of his daughters-Jim made an ongoing commitment to revitalizing downtown Waterloo. JSA owns more than 40 buildings and has completed renovations on more than half of them, including dozens of apartments, commercial units and businesses. These buildings house over 60 businesses and organizations and are home to over 100 residents. Through Four East Dining, Jim also opened downtown Waterloo fixtures including Jameson's Public House, Newton's Paradise Cafe, and Anton's Beer Garden. His work demonstrated his passion and commitment to historic preservation, mixed-use development and walkable, bikeable urban neighborhood planning. JSA earned the 2016 Business of the Year from the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber in honor of its significant contribution to the vitality of downtown Waterloo.

Jim was a charter member of the Waterloo Development Corporation and served on the board of the Healthcare Quality Association of Accreditation, Waterloo Expo Services Corporation, Waterloo Telecom Partners, Cedar Valley Community Healthcare, the Waterloo Community Playhouse, Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, and the Waterloo Community Foundation. He was also an inductee into the Eastern Iowa Business Hall of Fame.

Jim served as president of the Cedar Valley Irish Cultural Association, which organizes Iowa Irish Fest, drawing nearly 50,000 people annually to downtown Waterloo. He loved sharing his Irish-American heritage and extending joyful and legendary hospitality to family and friends in his home of Waterloo-Cedar Falls and through bus trips that brought his whole family together. Jim was fun to be around, funny, kind-hearted and unbelievably generous. He had a heart of gold and an endless supply of one-liners.

Jim is preceded in death by his parents, his sister Mary Beth Walsh and his brother John Walsh. He is survived by his wife, Linda; siblings Raymond (Mary) Walsh, Karen Walsh, Patricia (Ray) Howe, Michael (Sharon) Walsh, Laura (Jack) Owens and Kathleen Walsh; daughters Jennifer Walsh (Alan Lapre), Sara (Sam) Dirks and Anne (Brandon) Alvarado; grandchildren James, Robert and Betty; and numerous extended family members.

Public visitation will be held at Locke at Tower Park Funeral Home at 4140 Kimball Avenue in Waterloo from 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, October 21 and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 22.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial gifts be made to the Cedar Valley Irish Cultural Association, the Cedar Valley Trails Partnership, or Main Street Waterloo. Jim would also encourage you to grab a beer in his memory-at Jameson's or Anton's if possible-and spend some time enjoying the company of your family.