Back in 1987, veteran Joe Walsh co-founded the north San Diego County chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Assn. because he believed the men he served with on that fateful day of Dec. 7, 1941, “deserved to be remembered.”

Now, respects are being paid to Walsh, who died Dec. 21 after a brief illness at the Pacifica Senior Living complex in Vista. He was 100 years old.

Walsh was the last surviving active member of the association’s Chapter 31, following the death in February of chapter co-founder John Quier, 98, of Fallbrook.

As the chapter’s longtime president, Walsh organized Pearl Harbor Memorial Day services each Dec. 7 at Oceanside Harbor. Over the years, he never missed a service, including one held earlier this month.

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