Martin "Mort" George Walsh

Martin is survived by his sisters, Janet Walsh, Mary Black, and Jean Hutcheson, his godsons, Greg Kyllo and James Beattie, numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was predeceased by his beloved wife Ruth Walsh (nee Tingey) in 1966 and his parents George Walsh 1957 and Agnes Walsh 1977.

Martin showed exceptional artistic ability as a youngster and followed this path by attending the London School of Design in England. He had a stellar career as a fine graphic designer winning the prestigious New York Art Director Award twice. One of these was awarded anonymously for his design for the 1968 11th International Conference for Young People of Alcoholics Anonymous held in Toronto.

Mort was intensely committed to his own healing and recovery, one day at a time, achieving 58 years of continuous sobriety. He was admired for consistently working his recovery program, which served as a spiritual foundation for him to serve others, right up until his final days.

Martin was a lifelong sports fan since his early days in Oshawa and a keen supporter of Toronto and National teams. A hockey highlight for Martin was attending the 1972 Summit Series in Moscow between Canada and Russia.

In his latter years, Martin followed his calling as a professional recovery coach. Martin’s highly effective yet compassionate recovery oriented approach earned him the love and respect of clients around the world. His remarkable therapeutic abilities and the resulting impact on the lives he helped transform will surely be his lasting legacy.

For the past 50 years Martin has called the Bay-Bloor area of Toronto “home”; there he has enjoyed the mutual friendship, fellowship and community of dear neighbours and local businesses.

Martin was a steadfast ally to the LGBTQ2S community providing the unconditional love and kindness that many lacked from their own families.

Due to the present circumstances in the world, an online celebration of life will be planned to honour Martin at a later date. Once confirmed, details will be posted here.

In memory of Martin donations may be made to Renascent Addiction Centre www.renascent.ca and Jean Tweed Centre www.jeantweed.com, two Toronto-based organizations that Martin worked with and supported over the past 50 years. Donations in Martin’s name to any addiction treatment centre in your local community are also appreciated.