Walter F. Erston, MD

Walter F. Erston, MD, passed away peacefully on February 25, 2025, at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Massachusetts. He was 87 years old.

Walter was born on January 21,1938 in Vienna, Austria, the son of Herbert U. Erston, a mechanical engineer, and Elizabeth C. Erston (nee Bauer). The family emigrated to the United States on September 10,1938 and settled in New York City.

Walter graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1955 and went on to attend Cornell University, where he was a member of Pi Tau Sigma fraternity and served as manager of the tennis club. He received a Masters of Mechanical Engineering in 1961. A few years later, he enrolled at State University of New York’s Upstate Medical University, where he received a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1970. He was licensed by the National Board of Medical Examiners in 1971 and completed his residency in radiology at Rochester General Hospital, where he served as Chief Resident. In 1974 he received certification in Diagnostic Radiology from the American Board of Radiology and became a member of the American College of Radiology in 1975.

In addition to his studies, Walter joined the U.S. Army transportation corps in 1960 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1961. He earned a promotion to Captain before being honorably discharged from active duty on December 3, 1962, and continued to serve in the Army Reserves until 1970. In 1989, he was appointed a Major in the Vermont Air National Guard.

While at SUNY, Walter met Catherine Todd; they married on December 22, 1968. Their daughter Hillary was born in 1969, followed by Eric in 1972. After Walter completed his residency, he took a job as a radiologist at the Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, New York, and the family relocated to a 25-acre homestead in nearby Erin. Walter enjoyed the country life – working the land with his 1930s tractor, raising chickens and goats, ice skating on the pond, cross-country skiing, apple and berry picking, puttering in his workshop, and hunting. His greatest passion, however, was not on land but in the air. An accomplished pilot, he loved to fly from an early age and was always ready to transport his family and friends anywhere and everywhere in his twin-engine Cessna.

In 1981, Walter moved the family to St. Albans, Vermont, where he spearheaded the radiology department in the local hospital. He was a pioneer in the use of mammography for early breast cancer detection in a time when routine mammograms were not the norm. During this time, Walter reconnected with his lifetime love of sailing and enjoyed many summers sailing his Catalina 27 around Lake Champlain. He also crewed a racing boat in Honduras and took Cathy to the Caribbean to crew on recreational sailboats.

After his divorce from Cathy in 1989, Walter traveled the country with “locums tenens” positions at various hospitals. He also obtained his commercial pilot’s license, which allowed him to serve private clients and transport cargo.

In 2000, Walter married Suzanne Degni of Charlotte, North Carolina. He and Suzanne lived in Charlotte and in Charleston, South Carolina until their separation in 2024, when Walter moved to Camellia Gardens in Maynard, Massachusetts. Suzanne passed away on December 23, 2024.

Walter leaves behind a daughter, Hillary Welles, of Santa Fe, New Mexico; a son, Eric Erston, and his wife Veronica Erston, of Concord, Massachusetts; two grandsons, Oliver and Jake Erston; stepchildren Julie Marr, David Kingery, and John Degni; and his cousin Hillary Bauer, nephew William Bauer, and family, of Derbyshire, United Kingdom.

A military service will be held on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at 11:15 am at the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Connery Ave., Buzzards Bay, MA. 

Donations may be made in Walter’s memory to Folds of Honor at https://foh.org/waltererstonmemorial.