Mason Shea Walsh, 9, "was received into the arms of Jesus" on Feb. 16, 2006, in St. Peter's Hospital in Helena due to respiratory failure.

Mason Shea Walsh was born Sept. 20, 1996, in Fort Lewis, Wash. In the relatively short time that Mason was with us, he accomplished more and touched more lives than most people do in a lifetime. Mason loved ranch dressing, monkeys, robots, peanut butter sandwiches, ramen noodles and everyone. His creativity and imagination were far beyond his years. He loved to draw, write and dream up inventions that would change the world. He wanted to be an entrepreneur and build a restaurant and create his own toy store. He exceeded all boundaries and expectations.

He is survived and missed by his parents, Rob and Cheri Walsh; his brother, Daniel; and his sister, Clover; his grandparents, Ellen Gibson of Helena; Fred Gibson, Dave and Carolyn Walsh of Kalispell; and his aunts and uncles, which include Aaron Gibson and Kacey Scott of Kalispell, Christopher and Angela Walsh of Roundup, Michele and Joey Thomas of Yuma, Ariz. He is also survived by numerous other relatives and very special friends. His classmates and staff at Hawthorne Elementary will especially miss him. No heart is left untouched and the world will be a little less bright without Mason and his unique and amazing abilities and gifts.

And from all of us to you, Mason, have an incredible journey, "Bye! Bye! See you next time!"

A memorial service will be held 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, at the Retz Funeral Home Chapel. Following the memorial service the family invites all his friends to participate in a celebration of Mason's life at the Service Club at Fort Harrison at 6 p.m.

A memorial fund for the Walsh Family Memorial has been set up at: Helena Community Credit Union, P.O. Box 159, Helena, MT 59624.