Walter John Zaremba Jr. completed his time with us on earth May 28th after making a sixty year impact on the world. He died just as he would have wanted, on a river, packing a guitar. He will always be loved by Christine Toto Zaremba, his best friend and wife of 33 years and their sons, Nicholas and Matthew.
He leaves behind his mother, Jean Zaremba, sister Layne Francis and brother David Zaremba all of Peabody and brother Peter Zaremba of Maine. He leaves behind his relatives and his friends and all the people he has met along the road of life who will remember him as a charismatic character, not easily forgotten.
Walter had two passions in life- music and canoeing. Known as Walter the 'Bear' , he was a singer/guitar playing front-man of the BearBones Band, some calling him the "Bluesman of the South Shore". He could be found performing at the Mill Wharf, the Vine, ChiliHeads or just walking into an open mic at McGreals, The Catbird or Next Page. He had two cd's ' Livn the Blues' and his new ' High Heels & Pearls' with all original tunes written by he and his wife.
An avid canoeist, Walter loved all facets of paddlesport from the wilderness of the Allagash Waterway, to the thrill of the West River, and ultimately the quite of the North River where he had his last adventure..He was active with the Wampanoag Paddlers, NSRA, Northeast Paddlers Message Board and foundedNew England Paddlers where he introduced many people to the sport.
In the community Walter 'Mr. Z" was a Webelo leader in Everett and then Scoutmaster of Troop 90, Scituate, moving up the ranks along side his sons. He influenced the lives of many boys who had the privlidge to learn from an experienced outdoorsman and story-teller.
Aside from scouting, Walter gave back to Scituate by running for "Mayor" in support of our parade and by creating the Mt Hope Coffee House, giving musicians a place to perform while benefiting a scholarship fund.
Walter was retired from John Hancock Financial Services after a 21 year career in the I.T. department where he was well-known by the systems community.
So we say good bye to Bear, who can now be seen performing with his favorites, Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, or perhaps sitting at a campfire with his friend Roger with Xena at their feet. His new puppy, Blues will wait for him at the door each nite and we will hear him singing through the wind chimes. As he always said, we will 'See you downriver..."
A memorial service will be held at Richardson-Gaffey Funeral Home, 382 First Parish, Scituate on Sat, June 11 3-6pm. A celebration of his life will be held at the New England Wildlife Center, Columbia St, Weymouth on Sunday June 19 2-5pm. Donations can be made to the NE Wildlife Ctr or to Mt Hope Improvement Society Scholarship Fund, 3 Cedar St, Scituate, Ma.
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