Raymond V. Welch (Seymour)'s Obituary
Raymond V. Welch, son of Arthur and Angie (Nichols) Welch, surrounded by family peacefully departed this life Saturday, May 31, 2014, at St. John’s Medical Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was eighty-seven years, one month and four days of age.
Raymond was born April 27, 1927, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and lived there until his father’s job as a surveyor in the oil business took the family to Collinsville, Seneca, Houston, Boone County, Arkansas, and finally Seymour at the age of 16. It was also at the age of 16 that he accepted Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.
He grew up on a farm and was active in FFA and on-the-farm training in Seymour. In 1945, Raymond answered the call to military service and proudly served his country in the United Sates Army as a paratrooper medic in the 11th Airborne. He spent time in Japan with the early occupational forces. Raymond was also on a competitive Army boxing team. He would be awarded the World War II Victory Medal for his service.
After the military, he returned to Seymour and subsequently spent some time traveling and working around the western United States before marrying Helen Alene McClure in Seymour on August 18, 1951. To this union one son, Douglas, was born in 1960. They were married for nearly 55 years before her passing in March of 2001.
Raymond worked as a welder while attending Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned a certificate in Machine Design. His skills led to employment as a draftsman, engineer, and finally cost estimator with large industrial construction firms. He worked for Sverdrup & Parcel, Monsanto and Bechtel Corporation. He later worked as an independent consultant.
He was an avid pilot and as a younger man, had a private pilot’s license and instrument rating as well as a glider license. He and a partner completely rebuilt a Stinson airplane from scratch which was completed and flew in 1974. Raymond also enjoyed farming, reading Westerns and working on home and vehicle fix-it projects.
Raymond traveled frequently but was based out of St. Louis, then rural Ohio before moving to Concord, California, in 1975 when he joined Bechtel. While working for Bechtel he was seconded for extended periods in London, England, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Johannesburg, South Africa. He participated in the building of many large construction projects such as chemical and nuclear plants and a large, planned urban area in the desert of Saudi Arabia. He retired from Bechtel in the early 1980s and moved back to the Seymour area with Helen.
Raymond and Helen were very active in helping raise their grandchildren. After Helen’s passing in 2001, and then his son’s wife in 2002, Raymond sold his farm near Marshfield to move in with Doug to help him raise his children, Armond, Ryan, Seth and Mika. They lived in California, North Dakota and Oklahoma. Raymond was ill during the last year of his life, but remained very close to his son and grandchildren and they were with him when he passed away on May 31.
He is survived by his son, Raymond Douglas Welch of Mannford, Oklahoma; grandsons, Rory, Armond, Ryan and Seth Welch; and granddaughter, Mika Welch – all of the home; and sister, Jean Carpenter and her husband Paul, of Seymour, Missouri.
Raymond was a devoted Christian all his life and he summed up his perspective on faith with the verse, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing.”
What’s your fondest memory of Raymond?
What’s a lesson you learned from Raymond?
Share a story where Raymond's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Raymond you’ll never forget.
How did Raymond make you smile?
