Wally was born in 1938 in up-state New York near the headwaters of the Delaware River. He worked in the construction trades, and also worked as a minor in the tunnels for the construction of the Chicago subway system. When he found himself unemployed yet again, he headed to Minnesota looking for work. He always tried to do what was right, and put God first in his life. When C.O.P.D got the best of him he headed south to a drier, warmer climate.