John R. Welch

John R. Welch of Kill Devil Hills, NC, and Tucson, AZ went to be with his heavenly Father while surrounded by family on April 20, 2024.  John was born in Clarksburg, WV as the only child of Mary Squires and Arnette Welch.  He grew up in Clarksburg, WV, and attended Washington Irving High School, before moving to College Park, MD, and graduating from Northwestern High School.  John enlisted in the U.S. Army right out of High School and served in the Korean Conflict. He used his GI Bill benefits to attend and graduate from the University of Maryland, College Park.  Soon after, he moved to New York City to live in Greenwich Village and tried his hand in the bustling retail clothing industry, where he met Judy Kane who soon became his wife in 1962.  He then moved into the Industrial Laundry business which took them to Morgantown, WV, Staten Island, NY, and Matawan, NJ before settling in Quinton, VA where they raised their two children, Robert and Terry. 

John was a man of many talents, changing industries multiple times to ensure his family could remain in Virginia.  He owned multiple small businesses in the Rental Uniform, historic brass belt buckle re-creations, maid service, and finally a wire wrapping business that carried him into and through his semi-retirement.   He lovingly shared experiences and expertise from each one of these phases of his professional career but is best known for teaching budding wire wrappers in Richmond, VA, and Tucson, AZ.  After moving to Collington Harbour, John nurtured his distinct love for sailing, becoming a fixture in the Collington Harbour Yacht Club’s Youth sailing program and frequently competing in local and regional races with his sailing buddies on his many Catalinas, then his favorite boat, the “Miss Judy” – a 20-foot Nonsuch that still graces the waters of Collington Harbor today. 

After losing Judy in 2016, John then met a wonderful woman in Tucson, AZ, Vonnie Yablonski, who poured her kindness and love into the man who was lovingly called “Grumpy” by his 6 grandchildren.  Her love, compassion, and apple pies were exactly what John needed in his later years and they loved sharing their family’s experiences and many of life’s adventures together.

John is survived by his two children, Terry (Mike) and Robert (Kathie), and his six grandchildren, Jessica O’Neil (Grey), Dee, Emma, and Carly Thurman, and Sydney Porter (Matt) and Todd Welch. 

A celebration of life in North Carolina will be scheduled later this summer. 

Memorial donations may be made in John’s name to Collington Yacht Club’s Youth Sailing Program by mailing your donation to J.C. Falconer (Past Commodore), 106 Rhogoms Dr, Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948, or to the American Heart Association Memorial Gift Program.