Cleveland Douglas "Doug" Welch

Doug was born September 15, 1947, in Salisbury, NC, but two weeks later he and his mother Fay arrived by train in Athens, GA to meet up with his father Sam. Fay and Sam made their home in Athens and Doug spent the next 77 years sharing his smile and making friends in the Classic City.

Doug’s youth found him active in the Emmanuel Episcopal Church where he served as an acolyte and the Athens YMCA where he was a Kelley Boy. At Athens High School, Doug was a member of the football and track teams and was very active in school activities while compiling an academic record that earned him a scholarship to Georgia Tech. He spent his summers as a lifeguard at the Athens Country Club swimming pool.

While gaining his BS in Textiles at Tech, Doug made many close friends, being named Sigma Alpha Epsilon Man of the Year in 1970, but he always remained a stalwart Georgia Bulldog football fan. He never forgot the experience of playing in Sanford Stadium with the Y before the Bulldog games.

Returning to Athens, Doug went to work at the Athena Carpet Company and shortly after that met Nancy Wood on a blind date. It was love at first sight and a month later Doug proposed. They remained sweethearts for 54 years.

With the closing of Athena Carpet and Chicopee Mills, Doug was faced with the decision of moving to North Carolina or finding a new job in Athens. He decided to stay in Athens and joined his father in the Welch Construction Company. He was good at building not only houses but also a family. Doug and Nancy welcomed their daughter Jolly in December of 1979, and then Doug was elected president of the Athens Home Builders Association in 1980.

Doug was a dedicated member of the Athens Crackers Running Club which operated out of the YMCA and was sponsored by World Famous Allen’s in Normaltown. Doug would meet other club members at the YMCA early in the morning and they would run down Prince Avenue to Milledge and out to Whitehall where they would turn around and retrace their steps to the Y. Then after work they would meet again at Allen’s where they could discuss the next 10K or marathon or analyze the upcoming Bulldog game over a cold beer.

Doug was always surrounded by friends. At a Jimmy Buffet concert (a noted Parrot-head he wore shorts and flip flops in the dead of winter and treasured their family vacations at Folly Beach), as a founding member of the Monday Night Football poker game, dancing with Nancy at a Normaltown Flyers show, or just relaxing with a cold beer on a warm afternoon. Always surrounded by friends and always smiling.

Doug is survived by his wife Nancy of Athens, his daughter, Jolly, son-in-law Brandon, and grandson Trey Johnson of Knoxville, TN, sister Margaret and brother-in-law John Watson of Ponte Vedra, FL, and brother, Eric and sister-in-law, Joyce Welch of Marietta.

Services for Doug will be held Monday, May 12 at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church with the family receiving friends at 1:00 p.m., followed by a church service at 2:00 p.m., and then a gathering for a toast at the Oglethorpe Garage afterwards. Casual attire is encouraged with flip flops optional.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to the caring staff of St. Mary’s Highland Hills Memory Care.

In lieu of flowers, the family request donations be made to the Athens YMCA (athensymca.org) or Emmanuel Episcopal Church (emmanuelathens.org).

Bernstein Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.