Our Heritage

In March of 1959, a young graduate of Marquette University and former member of the Special Forces Airborne division made his way to the small western town of Reno, Nevada. When he got to Reno, Ed McCaffery purchased the original Walton’s funeral home, located at the corner of Second and Vine Streets, and a Nevada legend was born.

In the last five decades, Walton’s Funerals and Cremations has grown into one of the largest family-owned funeral home businesses in the nation, with eight locations in the Reno-Tahoe area, as well as in Susanville, California.

A passionate advocate for Nevada’s children, Ed is a proud supporter of Casa de Vida and the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Truckee Meadows; and he sits on the Board of Regents of St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California. He also funds a scholarship for Northern Nevada high school children to attend St. Mary’s. Ed has spent his 50-year career as a public supporter of both the Little Flower School and Bishop Manogue High School in Reno, both of which were attended by his children and grandchildren. 

He says that the greatest gift he gave to his children was education, as “it’s something nobody can take away from them.”

In 1986, Ed’s daughter Tammy Dermody used her education and joined the family business to help her father grow Walton’s Funerals and Cremations into what it is today. A Reno native and Bishop Manogue graduate, Tammy left Reno only to attend Santa Clara University and then promptly came back.

A mom first and a businesswoman second, Tammy has carried on her father’s unwavering support for education in Northern Nevada by volunteering weekly at Bishop Manogue High School. Tammy also provides scholarships to Bishop Manogue High School every year.

Tammy shares her father’s passion for community involvement outside of the classroom. She sits on the advisory board of  CASA and The Solace Tree, a local organization that helps children and teens deal with grief; as well as the  boards for The Children’s Cabinet, Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada and Casa de Vida.

Tammy and her husband Michael reside in Reno with their four children Craig, Pearce, Nikki and Jack.