A memorial Mass was celebrated Tuesday at St. Joseph Church, Marietta, for Father Andrew A. Walls, S.M., the founding pastor. Father Walls, 82, died last Tuesday.

Father Walls served in Marietta from 1951-1961. When he arrived, St. Joseph’s was a mission with a total membership of 60. Today, the parish has 850 families.

In 1953, he began St. Joseph’s School with one four-classroom building and 60 pupils. The school now has eight grades and more than 500 pupils.

While serving as pastor, Father Walls celebrated his 50th anniversary as a Marist priest. He was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1885 and entered the seminary in 1900. He made his religious profession to the Marist Order, Nov. 21, 1909 and was ordained in June 1911.

After ordination, Father Walls was sent to Jefferson College, La., where he remained until 1917. After a year in Washington, D.C., he was sent to Langhorn, Pa., where he served until 1942.

Father Walls came to Atlanta in 1942 and in October, 1951, became pastor of the Marietta mission. In 1961, he went to St. Francis Xavier in Brunswick, Ga., where he remained until his death.