Joseph "Joe" Walser

Joseph “Joe” Walser of Wilmington, North Carolina, passed into eternal life on April 29th, 2025.  Joe was known for his love for his family, his faith, and his profession as a teacher.

In 1959 Joe met the love of his life, Cathy, on a blind date. The date was a big success, and they married in 1961.  In 1964, they moved to Alma, Michigan, where Joe began his 36-year career as a professor of religious studies and Near Eastern archaeology at Alma College. Joe and Cathy raised a daughter, Katie, a son, Joseph, and a black dachshund named Bandit.  An avid organic gardener, he established and maintained beautiful flower and vegetable gardens at their Alma home. He thoroughly enjoyed small-town life, riding his bike to campus with his briefcase hanging from the handlebars in warm weather, wearing his famous ear muffs while walking there in the cold.

An ordained Presbyterian minister, Joe taught courses in Bible and comparative religions at Alma College, where he also served as the campus chaplain for a few years. As chaplain, his Christmas Eve services were legendary. They were joyfully hard to describe: theologically thoughtful yet creatively cutting-edge multi-media events he orchestrated along with his friend and art professor Ed Jiaccomo. In the same vein, he performed many weddings and baptisms for Alma College students over the years, and he led many bible study series at churches close to Alma.  Even when his Alzheimer’s was very advanced, Joe could still recite the Lord’s Prayer and the communion Words of Institution when a member of the clergy stopped by to visit him. In addition, Joe made 15 trips to Israel with Alma College students as part of his spring-term course Biblical Archaeology.  For him, the connection between the Bible and the physical manifestations of the Bible that emerged during digs was magical and meaningful. He made numerous presentations of his excavations and tours of the Holy Land to many groups.

Although he was a full professor, Joe would always refer to himself as a “school teacher” because for him, it was all about the students. And the students adored him: he was awarded the Distinguished Professor Award 18 times (a professor was only eligible every other year).  In recognition of the impact he had on so many generations of students, when Alma College renovated its campus chapel in 2021, they renamed the sanctuary “The Walser Sanctuary”.  And his teaching did not stop in the classroom and the pulpit: Joe also served as tennis coach and assistant softball coach at Alma College, and Scoutmaster of his son’s Boy Scout troop. (Joe himself was an Eagle Scout!) He was a regular story time reader at an Alma elementary school’s second grade classroom, and, after retiring in 2000, he worked weekly as a remedial reading coach at Forest Hills Elementary in Wilmington. 

During his time in the Memory Care unit at Bradley Creek Health Center at Carolina Bay, Joe received outstanding, loving, and respectful care from numerous dedicated caregivers.  The family wishes to express its deep gratitude for this wonderful and sustained support for Joe and the rest of his family.  In addition, Joe and his family received care from Lower Cape Fear Hospice, and the family is very appreciative and grateful for this care.

Joe is survived by his wife, Cathy Walser, his daughter Katie, his son Joseph, his son-in-law Joel Klahn and daughter-in-law Radha Subramanyam, his brothers Tom Walser and John Walser, sister-in-law Debbie Walser, his grandchildren Tara and River Walser, and many loving nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his sister, Ginger Hicks.  

A memorial service will take place at 11 am on Wednesday, June 18, at the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmington, North Carolina (125 S. Third Street).

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Nourish North Carolina (https://nourishnc.org) and E2D (Eliminate the Digital Divide: https://www.e-2-d.org).