Walter Ousley

Walter Ousley died on 26 September 2026, aged 81. His family thanked the staff of Alden Memory Care in Des Plaines, Illinois, for their compassion during his final days. No cause of death was made public.

Visitation was held on 13 October 2026 at Ryan-Parke Funeral Home in Park Ridge, followed by a funeral Mass at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church across the street, and burial at All Saints Catholic Cemetery in Des Plaines. His obituary was published in the Chicago Sun-Times on 4 October and later in the Daily Herald and the Chicago Tribune. In the online guest book, Sally Blount, chief executive of Catholic Charities, offered condolences on behalf of the agency, and former colleagues remembered him as a fair leader, a mentor and a kind boss. The family asked that memorial donations be made to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Walter Herbert Ousley was born on 13 April 1945, the son of Claudine Ousley (nee Fields) and Walter Ousley Sr. He had a brother, Claude, and a sister, Bernadine. According to the obituary published by his family, his grandmother Mamie Fields was the guiding light of his young life and instilled in him the principle that there were no limitations on what he could achieve or who he could become. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland and a graduate degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago.

In 1965 Ousley enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he rose to the rank of staff sergeant. He served in Vietnam and was later assigned to Air Force One, the presidential aircraft, as a crew chief. For his service he received the Presidential Service Award in 1971; his obituary also lists the National Service Medal, an Air Force unit award and the Vietnam Service Medal.

After leaving the Air Force he joined Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, where he worked for 35 years. He was instrumental in the agency's government relations and led programmes that distributed food to the needy, provided addiction consultation, education and drug prevention, and mentored welfare clients back to work. He was promoted to director of operations in 1991 and became chief operating officer in 2001.

In April 2007 Ousley spoke for the agency when it announced the end of its foster care programme, which had placed abused and neglected children with foster families for decades. After a 12 million dollar settlement of a lawsuit over abuse in one of its foster homes in the 1990s, Catholic Charities could not find an insurer for the programme. Ousley told WBEZ and NPR that the agency had approached 26 carriers and been turned down by 24, and told the Catholic New World that the staff affected were concerned first of all for the children. Some 900 children were transferred to the state or to other agencies.

His work was recognised with the United Way's President's Award and Outstanding Council Member Award and with the McDermott Foundation Humanitarian Award. Catholic Charities presented him with an honorary circle in its St. Leo Memorial Garden in recognition of his Air Force service and his contribution to the agency.

Ousley was married to Joyce Craven-Ousley. They had a son, Peter, who is married to Charone, and three grandchildren, Ellie, Nadav and Ronen. His family described him as an extraordinary father, grandfather, husband and coach, and as a fiercely competitive tennis player and golfer. He lived in the Chicago area, and his funeral was held in Park Ridge, Illinois.

Ousley's career joined two kinds of public service: the discipline of the Air Force, including duty on the presidential aircraft, and more than three decades running the day to day work of one of Chicago's largest charities. He helped lead programmes for food, addiction prevention and work for people on welfare, and he steered the agency through difficult decisions such as the end of its foster care programme in 2007. The honorary circle in the St. Leo Memorial Garden marks both parts of that service.