Richard G.T. Welsh

CDR Richard G.T. Welsh, USN, Retired, passed away peacefully on Saturday, August 20, 2016. He was born August 6, 1936 in Darby, PA. He was the son of the late Joseph Clement Welsh and Marie Cash Welsh. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Marie Welsh Stalford. He enlisted in the Navy at the age of seventeen where he served in the commissioning crew of the USS Skipjack (SSN 585) as an Electronics Technician. After leaving the USS Skipjack, he was selected for the NESEP program and earned a B.S. in Underwater Physics from Penn State in December 1963. After his commissioning, he was assigned as a Division Officer aboard the USS Lynde McCormick (DDG 8). He was then assigned as the Weapons Officer aboard the USS Lofberg (DD 759). He served four combat tours in Vietnam while serving on these two ships. After his final return from Vietnam, he went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Physics from the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, CA. He moved to the staff of the Supervisor of Ship Building Newport News, VA where he oversaw the construction of the USS Los Angeles (SSN 688). He would move on to The Naval Underwater Systems Center in New London, CT. While there, he earned an additional Master’s Degree in Systems Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He then served on the staff of the Naval Sea Systems Command as his twilight tour where he managed programs to integrate future shipboard sensors and weapon systems. He retired from this command after twenty-seven years of service to the United States Navy. For the next eighteen years he worked for the Raytheon Company building weapons suites for the Navy. He is survived by his beloved wife Jane Carson Welsh, children Richard, Jane, Cathy, Wendy, Sheree, nine grandchildren, brothers Joseph and William, sisters Patricia and Margaret, and other family and friends, all of whom were blessed to share in his eighty years of a life well-lived and well-loved. He will be deeply missed. A visitation with the recitation of the Rosary will be held Friday night, August 26, 2016 from 6-8 p.m., at Demaine’s Funeral Home in Old Town Alexandria. A Funeral Mass celebrating his life, service and faith will be held Saturday afternoon, August 27, 2016 at 2:30 p.m., at St. Louis Catholic Church, 2907 Popkins Lane, Alexandria, Virginia, with a reception immediately following at Msgr. Walsh Hall on the parish grounds. Burial to follow in Arlington National Cemetery on a date to be announced. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his honor to the American Lung Association and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.