May 30, 2024

UPDATED: Sister Jane Morrissey shares memories of friendship with Bill Walton

REGIONAL
By Rebecca Drake

 

SPRINGFIELD – Amid the tributes citing the sports achievements of the late basketball star Bill Walton, who died May 27 after a long battle with cancer, a soft-spoken Sister of St. Joseph in western Massachusetts is remembering a man of compassion and generosity.

“He’s become a living memory of goodness,” said Sister Jane Morrissey of the nearly 7-foot tall NCAA and NBA champion, Hall of Fame inductee, and popular sports broadcaster.

Walton was a longtime benefactor of The Gray House, a social service agency in Springfield’s North End, and Homework House, an after-school program in Holyoke and other locations, both of which were cofounded by Sister Morrissey.

Sister Morrissey was introduced to Walton by Kevin Frazier, the son of late peace activist Marian Frazier (who died in 2016), a longtime friend and associate of Sister Morrissey. Because Marian Frazier’s brother was the manager of Boston Garden, her children met many sports stars there, and Kevin Frazier became friends with Walton.

During one of Walton’s visits to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Sister Morrissey recalled, Kevin commented that, “Bill doesn’t just want to look good, he wants to do good.”

“And his mom said, ‘If he wants to do good, he should meet Sister Jane and visit The Gray House,’” Sister Morrissey said. “And the next thing I knew, there Bill Walton was, with a film crew, with Kevin Frazier…”

“And the rest became history,” she said. “He (Walton) kept helping us out with anything at The Gray House and the Homework House,” donating signed basketballs and other items for raffle baskets and door prizes. Funds raised helped support a food pantry, along with educational and recreational programs for adults and children.

During Walton’s visits to the Hall of Fame, and whenever he was working as a broadcaster in Hartford, Conn., Sister Morrissey said, Walton would invite Kevin to dinner and ask “Would you bring Sister Jane along?”

“He had a heart that embraced everybody around him,” Sister Morrissey said of the man described as a sports icon and hailed in a statement this week from the Boston Celtics as “one of the most consequential players of his era.” Sister Morrissey also spoke about Walton’s grace and courage in enduring physical suffering throughout his life.

“He was someone who chose to suffer in silence because he did have physical difficulties all his life,” she said. “He really suffered a great deal because of physical defects he was born with that were exacerbated by his height. He lived with them in silence.”

Sister Morrissey recalled giving Walton a birthday gift of painting by a Sister of St. Joseph. Noting that the title of the painting was “Compassion,” she said, “That word captures clearly who he was to everyone he met.” One of the things he did with his financial stability, she said, was to support the Challenged Athletes Foundation, a nonprofit that provides opportunities and training for disabled athletes.

“Wherever he went, he always had an eye for people who were disabled or disadvantaged in any way, and he would ask them if they had any interest in sports, and he would give them a scholarship so they could go to this center and be as athletic as they could be,” said Sister Morrissey.

“He really did make people shine – find their own light and shine.”