He adopted dogs at 96 and 99. Now gone at 100, what will happen to his furry friend?

MARSHFIELD − His large family and many friends in Marshfield and Norwell are remembering Wally Rockwell, who died Sunday, Jan. 28, at age 100 of complications after a fall and surgery last week.

Knowing Wally's strong bond with his Russell terrier, one of their many questions was, "What will happen to Sunny?"

Wally was a smiling, welcoming and funny man who loved conversations with others. In his 90s, he adopted two rescue dogs at different times to keep him company.

The first was Alice when he was 96 and lived in Norwell. She had leukemia and he tenderly cared for her for three years until she died at age 14 in 2022.

Then at age 99, Wally found Sunny, a 3-year-old Russell terrier, through a friend and gave him a home in his new Proprietors Green apartment. Wally had moved from his longtime house in Norwell to the retirement community.

Wally fell there last week while getting something out of his car trunk.

"Our family is heartbroken," his daughter Liz Rockwell emailed. "But we were also blessed to have Dad for so long.  Dad lived a wonderful life with our beautiful mother, and they had 7 children." The family will bury Wally this weekend and there will be a celebration of life for Wally in the spring.

The happy news is that Sunny has a new home with Wally's son, Wally Jr., who also has two golden retrievers.

"They are all doing great together!" Liz said.

"Wally Jr. has the same stature of our Dad and is also a wonderful man, so Sunny is content."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Wally Rockwell, 100, who loved dogs, dies after fall