Thomas E Walsh
I met CDR Robert Rountree and his wife Marie circa 1983 or 1984 when they came to my office at Bethesda Naval Hospital accompanied by their daughter Jocelyn, whom he liked to call JOYcelyn, for a consultation. Needless to say, I was outnumbered and we hit it off like old friends and had many subsequent visits over the years that followed, with them travelling all the way from Norfolk and staying with Jocelyn at her home in Cabin John MD. Soon luncheons and dinners ensued. After CDR Bob passed away, Joycelyn married the wonderful surgeon Neville Connolly and Marie came to live with them in Cabin John and also, if memory serves me correctly, at Fairfax Station, where Jocelyn now had added rescue horses to their lives. After mother Marie passed away, at home with Jocelyn's devoted and constant care to the end, I remembered thinking to myself "What a compassionate and selfless person she is." She was indeed a caregiver at heart and soul, again demonstrated after she and Neville moved to the big farm in Culpeper, now replete with two Great Pyrenees, 4 or 5 horses, and acres of hay she tended mostly herself, and of course dear Neville, who needed more care as the years went by.
So I salute Jocelyn for her life well lived and her service to others. Fair winds and following seas be yours.
Thomas E Walsh MD
CAPT MED CORPS USN (RET)