Our beloved Grand Dad, Richard C. “Dick” Welch, passed away peacefully early Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, just eight days before his 88th birthday, at Hill Country Memorial Hospital in Fredericksburg, Texas.
Dick was born Sept. 17, 1931 in Shawnee, Oklahoma to Fern Caruthers and Virgil Harold “Fudge” Welch. As a geologist for Amerada Oil Company, Virgil traveled somewhat often, so Fern stayed home and “corralled” the kids—Dick and his elder sister Eunice. Early in Dick’s life, the family moved to their permanent home on acreage outside Tulsa and remained there until 1948, when Fudge passed away. Dick attended Will Rogers High School and married classmate and sweetheart Anne Heider soon after graduation.
For a while, Dick pitched in minor league baseball and for University of Oklahoma while he studied business and commercial art. By 1950 daughter Sara was born, and son Richard Carl “Rick” came along in 1952, so Dick had to buckle down and get serious about making a living. Ambitious, hard-working, and eager, Dick found his way to Beaumont, Texas, where he discovered Merrill-Lynch and the brokerage business, which he totally embraced. By age 42, his drive for success caused Dick to suffer a heart attack which required double-bypass surgery and early medical retirement, but he never fully gave up the stock market.
During that time, Dick married Margaret “Peggy” Ogden Johnson, his wife for 43 years, and they soon took up residence on Rocky Road, just outside Blanco, Texas. From “home base,” Dick and Peggy entertained family and friends and became active participants in the life of Blanco County. They kept their suitcases packed and ready to travel to their next global destination, whether it be down U.S. Hwy. 281 to visit family or across the ocean to find a new adventure and make new friends. Peggy died in 2015 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Although officially retired, Dick stayed busy with ranching, livestock management, silver-smithing, star-gazing (astronomy), and clowning. As a member of the Ben Hur Shrine Clown Unit Srekoj, Snuffy the Clown appeared in a number of parades and entertained children at special events. Dick loved studying, reading and “supervising” the activities of the household, and of course golfing, a life-long passion. He referred to a golf game as “going to work,” and “attending a conference” meant a golf tournament.
Never one to enjoy life “solo,” Dick married long-time friend Jeanne Manry in May, 2017. They shared mutual friends, a love for travel and adventure, and a life-long fondness for the Texas Hill Country.
Dick is survived by his dear wife Jeanne; his sister, Mrs. Eunice Shupp, of Redmond, Washington; daughter Sara (Mrs. Bill Bray), Marble Falls, Texas; son Rick (Bonnie), Bluffdale; stepson Dick Johnson (Laura), San Antonio; stepdaughter Ellen (Mrs. John Eakin), Dallas; stepson Douglas Johnson, Austin; and stepson Donald Johnson, Austin; ten of 12 grandchildren; three great-grandsons; one great-granddaughter; nieces, nephews and a great many people whom he called friend.
A memorial service will take place at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Fredericksburg, Texas Friday, Sep. 20 at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to UTHSCSA—UT Health San Antonio-Body Donation Program: https://makelivesbetter.uthscsa.edu/donate. Online obituary accessible through Olinger-Saenz Funeral Home, San Antonio, Texas, for those wishing to offer comments or condolences.
