This Father’s Day, The Daily Item chose to highlight dads in local communities who have stood out as exceptional fathers. The Lynnfield Dad featured in The Daily Item story is Walter Radulski. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!
Walter Radulski is the father of three: 21-year-old Anna, a senior at Purdue University; 20-year-old Charlotte, a junior at West Chester University; and 18-year-old Walter, a 2025 Lynnfield High graduate who is going to the University of Indiana.
Radulski said being a dad “means the world to me. I’ve loved watching them grow up and turn into awesome adults.”
Radulski grew up in Andover. He met his wife, Aimee, a Pennsylvania native, while the two were on “adult spring break” during a Memorial Day sailing tournament on Nantucket.
He said they ended up choosing to live in Lynnfield somewhat accidentally.
“We were actually looking to rent in Boston, but we both loved the North Shore area, being close to the beach and mountains,” he said. “We really kind of stumbled into Lynnfield. It was 2002, and our broker said a house had just come on the market in Lynnfield that she thought we’d like. We saw it and loved it and have been here ever since. I can’t imagine our kids growing up anywhere else.”
All three Radulski children were multiple-sport athletes at Lynnfield High.
You name the game — from youth sports all the way up through college – and Walter and his wife, Aimee, were (and still are — more on that later) there not only cheering the team on, but most likely helping out with Aimee snapping photos for the teams and Walter in the press box manning the mic doing play-by-play for the baseball and football teams, usually with Dewey, the family dog, alongside with his Pioneers’ logo bandana tied around his neck.
Today, however, Walter will be in the grandstands at Polar Park in Worcester, where the Pioneers’ baseball team will be playing for a state championship – its first since 1961.
Radulski said there is no place he would rather be and that winning a title would be the perfect way to celebrate Father’s Day this year.
“That would make for an incredible Father’s Day, honestly,” he said. “I can’t really say it would be at the top, but it’s definitely right up there for sure. I just hope the boys can win it.”
Radulski said it’s hard to pinpoint his favorite memory as a father – it’s more about enjoying the present.
“I just enjoy that every day creates new experiences and new memories, but certainly things like the baseball run this year and dropping the girls off at college are all memories I know I’ll have forever. The same, I am sure, with dropping Walter off at Indiana this fall. We really have always done things as a family because both Aimee and I come from close-knit families, so I guess anytime we get together with family, probably is one of the best memories I have.”
With all three children away at college, this fall, the Radulskis will be empty-nesters.
But rest assured, there will be plenty of opportunities to make more memories.
“We’re going to be doing some traveling to visit the kids at their schools, I am sure,” Radulski said. “We will get to as many of Charlotte’s rugby games at West Chester as we can and probably will see more of Anna as well to make up for the fact that last fall, with Walter’s football and Anna being abroad, we didn’t get out there as much as we’d like. And the same with Walter at Indiana.”
Radulski said the one thing he has learned from being a father is to stay in the moment.
“It’s all those little things that are right in front of you every day,” he said. “That’s what being a parent and family are all about. It’s the girls scoring their first goals. It’s Walter’s first hit in baseball and winning a youth football Super Bowl. Making the final four this week on our home field was awesome. All those things combined are the things I’ve learned to appreciate and enjoy every day. I’m hoping for more today if the boys can win it all. That would be a great way for them to go out.”
