John M Walsh Jr

John M Walsh, Jr, the “car guy”, passed away on September 29, 2024 with his family by his side after a courageous battle with lung cancer.
 

John was a true Hull Kid graduating from Hull High in 1975 and being named best dressed in his high school yearbook. John was proud to be a member of the band Odyssey and a member of the channel 7 Greater Bostonians. John continued his education at the University of North Carolina graduating with a degree in Interior Design.

How did he go from Interior Design to Car Sales?  His love of helping people.  John sold cars for over 40 years.  He met the love of his life, Jinnie Ryan Walsh at a dealership when she went in with a service issue.  The sales manager told him to take a ride to check out the complaint and they were married a year later.  They did trade in the car.  John and Jinnie were married thirty years.  Jinnie was the Manager of Hingham Savings in Hull for 18 years. John and Jinnie were known by all as the Banker and the car guy.  You never left a conversation with John without his business card in your hand and a referral to the Bank.
 

John was a Ford Salesman at heart.  He worked for many years at Dave Dinger Ford and remained with the dealership when it was sold to Herb Chambers Ford. Repeat customers were his favorite!
 

John loved to cook and owned “Big John’s House of Food” in Randolph for several years.  He was the king of thin crust pizza. He returned to his first love, car sales in 2008.
 

In 2012 he was in a career ending car accident, as he was no longer able to walk the car lot.  A high school friend called him and asked him to go with her as she looked for a new car and “Auto Negotiators Unlimited” was born.
 

Auto Negotiators allowed John to do all the pre-work on cars from his home office, locate the car and travel with the customer to the dealership and negotiate the deal. Many dealers did not look forward to seeing him enter the dealership as they knew their profit would soon be shrinking!  If he never found a car for the person, there was no charge.  He was very proud of this fact, reinforcing that the customer knew he was truly working for them. He always called Jinnie after each deal to tell her “Auto Negotiators did it again!”
 

In 2020, during the covid pandemic, John took great pride in assisting first responders and medical staff with their transportation needs. The deal now included a parking space at the Warren Street Beach on Nantasket as he felt these folks were working so hard for us, they deserved a restful day off.
 

John loved his Golden Retrievers: Bailey, Seamus, Brady and Dakota all predeceased him. His current Goldens, Mercedes, Bentley and Maverick are all named after cars

John was predeceased by his parents, John M Walsh and Vivian M Walsh, his Brother Michael G Walsh, and his sister Frances M Galvin.  He is survived by his wife, Jinnie Ryan Walsh; his favorite niece Erin M Galvin and her fiance Jon White. He was known by his Indiana nephews as “Uncle John” including Christopher Walsh and his wife Ashley and their son Calvin Michael; Thomas Walsh and his daughter Nova; Patrick Walsh; and their mother Diane Walsh.

John celebrated his mother in law’s Virginia Ryan’s 100th birthday in February 2024.

John remained friends with many other “car guys” as well as his fellow Hull Kids, Jason Tabasky and Mark Forman.
 

Special thanks to the caring staff at Dana Farber Cancer Center and South Shore Hospital. Jinnie’s lifelong friend Lisa Battista was John’s personal chauffeur. John did not want traditional services.  There will be a celebration of his life next summer at Warren Street Beach. In lieu of flowers donations are requested to be sent to Morris Animal Foundation.org. This organization is researching cures for cancer in Golden Retrievers.

John lived life to the fullest and was friends to everyone. Beach Ave will be quieter now as he loved to crank the radio, open the sunroof in his F150 truck, and cruise down Hull streets. Rest easy Big John!

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of John M Walsh Jr, please visit our floral store.