Wally grew up in a small, rural community in Maryland. She and her husband Will met during a Cycle Across Maryland event in 1990, married in 1993. They were living and sailing in a small southern Maryland community when friends and fellow sailors told them “Oriental is your kind of town” — so they came, they saw, they bought and they built.

Before moving to Oriental, Wally had a successful private sector career. She worked in the architecture and engineering sector for more than 20 years, involved in business development, marketing and public relations. She then left her last role as vice president and corporate officer with one of Baltimore’s oldest and largest architectural and engineering firms to join the FBI as an intelligence analyst where she focused on counterintelligence.

When asked what she loves most about Oriental, she replied “the sense of community. Friends and neighbors care about each other.”

Over the years here, she has served as treasurer for The Old Theater, Oriental’s History Museum and now the Pamlico Amateur Radio Society (PARS). Her call sign is KK4ASP and she believes strongly in her fellows HAMS and their efforts to support the community during special events and storms, providing security and needed information via their alternative communication technologies.

No longer sailing, Wally still enjoys spending time outdoors. Most evenings she is in their yard watching birds, deer, racoons, possums, rabbits, and foxes destroy their landscaping and gardens!