David Welch

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Dad was born on October 27, 1925, to Stephen and Dorothy Welch. He had an older sister, Isobel, who has passed away and a younger brother, Rupert, who is here today. His family lived in Saanich. For years they lived in the gardener’s cottage on the large Oldfield estate where Dave and Rupert were farmhands. This cottage had no plumbing and was cold in the winter. Later they lived on the corner of Oldfield and Brookleigh. Dad went to Prospect Lake School and graduated from Mount Newton School. At the age of 11 his father died, at the age of 79, and dad had to not only go to school but work on the farm to provide for the family. These were hard times for the family. Dad was of the time of the horse and buggy, and his work initially was mostly manual, using horse drawn plows and cutting hay with a scythe. Dad said he was so strong he even had a magazine approach him to model.

After graduation, Dad went to Carmi in Northern BC to work as a radio operator for a short time. Following that, he joined the army in the early 1940’s and trained in Saskatchewan. He earned the rank of lieutenant. He was asked to fight in the Korean War but declined as he was again a radio operator in Northern BC. After a short time there he returned and decided to go into education. He started teaching in 1952 at Otter Point for 1 year and then to Langford and Sooke. From there he went to Trail, BC, to teach in 1955. While there he met my mom, Gwen, who was also a teacher. They enjoyed hiking and playing badminton together, and a year later were married on March 31, 1956, in New West Minster.

They finished their teaching year there and moved to Victoria. Dad became the Phys. Ed. teacher at the new high school of Colquitz.

In 1958, dad and mom bought land off the Oldfield homestead and started building their house. They only built when they had money so it took several years to build and was done in stages. They cleared most of the land by hand. Mom continues to live in this same house. Also during this time Dad became a Christian and was baptized.

Then in 1960 I came along. In 1961 dad and mom bought land on Saturna. Mom was expecting Ken at the time so Dad bought the lot on his own after seeing it with the tide in. After it had been bought Mom saw the lot with the tide out. The tide goes out about a mile and the shoreline is mud. Amazingly they are still married. That year Ken was born and mom and dad tented with two babies on the lot while they began building. We have great memories there, right Ken?...working in the mornings and boating in the afternoon. We would fish and hunt for arrowheads. The time we spent over there greatly shaped my life. Ken and I both love the ocean and collecting artifacts is a huge passion of mine.

In 1968, Dad went back to school for one year to complete his masters. This was a hard time for mom and dad but for two young kids I don’t remember it as hard. It probably was though. When he was finished Dad taught at Marigold, then at Lochside, before becoming vice-principal at Keating Elementary for 1971-1985 where he retired. In total he taught for 33 years.

During these years Dad enjoyed gardening as you are all aware. His gardens were massive and fed an army. Much to mom’s frustration the gardens got larger and larger. They required weeding and weeding and more weeding. Dad would bribe us, force us and at times pay us to weed. He paid us 5 cents a cabbage butterfly and when that species nearly went extinct, Dad owed us hundreds of dollars.

During these years we camped a lot in the bush with the camper. We holidayed in the Queen Charlotte Islands, Buttle Lake, Wells Grey Park and many other places in the interior of BC. We were always looking for rocks, fossils and arrowheads. Dad didn’t like the big cities, as I don’t, and liked to be more alone when camping. We also did trips with other families of the church, the Hamptons and Fryers, and would often fish with others as well.

Dad would embarrass easily. One fishing trip with the Hamptons I fell into the water trying to net a fish, and after I was back in the boat, Dad took off crossing the other fishing lines and got out of there as fast as he could. Dad was also quiet and in a group was definitely not an outgoing person. Dad was also one to show little emotion outwardly. Usually a good hand shake is what you got but in his later years half a hug.

Dad was also very handy. This is what you find in farmers, especially older ones. They can do carpentry, electrical, etc. and dad was like this. He would build sheds, our garage, much of the cabin at Saturna, and also helped build this church and Camp Imadine. I just wished I had learned more from him.

During our school years dad and mom encouraged (not pushed) us to work hard. Dad taught Ken and I many sports. It was tradition that we would come home from school, do homework and just before supper go outside and play hockey,basketball, football or badminton for 30-60 minutes. Dad would often say he didn’t have a father figure to model after but he played sports with us more than most fathers, instilled in us the value of hard work and integrity, gave us enjoyable holidays, and taught us the importance of church. We hardly ever missed church.

Dad also ran a boys club for many years on a Friday night. They would do sports and have a devotional.

After dad’s retirement he volunteered for the Capital Regional District parks for 27 years. He would walk countless hours on the trails of Bear Hill and later Elk Lake making sure no repairs were needed and the rules were followed.

From 1985-2006, mom and dad enjoyed travelling, often with friends. This led them to Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Turkey, Greece, Spain, the Panama Canal, the Caribbean and Antarctica.

Three years ago Dad had a stroke. Since then he continued to slowly deteriorate. It was hard to see. This last year has been tough on mom and dad. Although we will miss dad greatly, it is a blessing he is with his Lord Jesus Christ.

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David Welch passed into the presence of his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, on November 19th, 2016 at the age of 91. He lived most of his life in Victoria. David was a school teacher for 33 years. He will be greatly missed by his wife, Gwen, of 60 years, sons Dave (Astrid) and Ken(Dana), five grandchildren, his brother Rupert(Gail), and other family and friends. A celebration of life service will be held at Saanich Baptist Church, 4347 Wilkinson Road, on Saturday, November 26th at 1:00 pm. Email condolences may be sent to www.firstmemorialsaanich.com.

Arrangements under the direction of First Memorial Funeral Services, Victoria, BC.