James David Welborn

James Welborn, was a beloved Husband, Dad, PaPa, Brother, Uncle and Friend. To anyone who knew James, knew he had many wonderful attributes. He was known most for being a hard worker. He was raised on a farm with an older sister, Eunice, a younger brother, Bobby and two younger sisters, Donna and JoAnn. He was raised knowing work came before play and he made that his lifelong motto.

His parents were Ermon and JD Welborn. James was raised in the West Texas Panhandle. There were many stories of him and his brother, Bobby horse playing and squabbling which usually ended up with their daddy taking them out back of the barn for some licks with the belt. One story he told towards the end of his life was how Bobby, him and a couple of friends had to milk the cows before they could go to town. As they were milking the cows they started shooting milk at each other. James said that before he knew it, there was milk everywhere. (walls, floor, cows, each other) They washed everything down and then they had to add water to the milk to make up for what was lost. James and Bobby managed to escape their dad’s wrath and I suppose he never knew.

A story that speaks volumes of James’ hard work was a story the daughters heard from an early age. When James was young, he went to work during the summers for Sally and Lindsey Graham. He worked for them all summer after having completed his own chores at the farm. His first money earned- he bought a gift for his Mother which was a floor lamp. He surprised her by putting the floor lamp behind the couch and hiding there until she arrived home. When she came into the house - he jumped out yelling "Surprise!" The hard work of being raised on the farm, attending school while getting odd jobs from other farmers culminated in an incredible work ethic. James even spent one summer in Colorado at Horse Ranch where he worked as a ranch hand.

In High School James played football and he was voted class favorite his senior year. He graduated in May of “55. In the fall of “55 he began dating Nancy Smith. James left for the Army in January 1956. James and Nancy wrote back and forth to each other. It was in one of those letters he ask Nancy Lee Smith to be his wife. James would tell of stories where he would leave El Paso for weekend passes and drive through the night just to see her. It was Christmas leave of ’56 James came home and married the love his life on January 7, 1957. They were stationed at Fort Baker under the Golden Gate Bridge. They always talked about their first apartment in Sausalito and how they could sit at the table and touch the stove, bed and back door without even getting up. Nancy secured a job working for Bank of America. James was an excellent typist so he was assigned a job working for one of the Army officers as a Clerk Typist there at Fort Baker. James and Nancy had their first child December 8, 1957. They named him James Richard and called him Jamie. He passed away just 8 days later. Over the next few years, they had 3 daughters - Karrie Lee (1958), Terri Rene’ (1960), and Sherri Ann (1963).

James left the Army in 1956. They settled in Canyon, Texas. Nancy went to work and James worked as a Billing Clerk for a Truck Line in Amarillo. James went to college on the GI Bill. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business and he graduated in 3 years. His favorite courses were Typing and Math. He attended college while working.

James might have been described by some as an overachiever, he was without question a dedicated and diligent employee. He worked hard and expected all those around him to work hard as well. He was employed for Hodges Electric when the family moved to Plainview. In the early 70’s James accepted a job working for General Dynamics. The Fort Worth based company moved the family from West Texas to Forth Worth. James quickly realized that he was not cut out to be a computer programmer and moved on as quickly as he could. He then got a job working for Westing House in their Lighting Division. Selling came easy to James and he soon advanced to Branch Manager for Westing House Electric. James, being a hard worker (his given hobby – one might say), he always like to wear “many hats” at one time. In the early years of having a family, he held his full-time job, went to school and he ran the movie projector at the Granada Theater in downtown Plainview. After that, he ran a movie projector at a local Drive-In during the evenings and weekends. His next side line venture engulfed the entire family. James went into the Vending Machine Business. With 200 machines, it required that every day after work and school and Nancy’s teaching job – everyone went out to refill vending machines. This side-venture lasted for seven years. There was a brief reprieve and then James was ready for a new family venture. In July of 1977, Happiness Hallmark was the beginning of what would be a God Centered, hardworking family business with 40 successful years and 21 locations! Many of these years took place while James was employed as Branch Manager for Westing House. He could see the growth of the stores made holding his “real job” very difficult. It was then that he became a Sales Rep at the World Trade Center. This job paired well with owning a few Hallmark stores. When the company reached 8 locations – Hallmark and Dad knew it was time to give the stores his full attention. Nancy taught school for 31 years. She helped James every step of the way. Their were many challenges and hurdles they faced; but together with their daughters and son-in-laws and faith, God always saw them through. The daughters would say, “We give God the Glory that we could work side by side for so many years and love each other so much. The unconditional love that our parents taught us was the basis for our family business. We were taught to show our customers kindness and exemplify joy and happiness to all we meet. It was these qualities of our parents that made Dad a man that was highly respected in the gift industry. He was a man of integrity and loved by all who knew him. He was highly regarded by Hallmark Management, Bankers, Manufactures, Sales Representatives and our wonderful Hallmark Family throughout the 40 years of business.”

James David Welborn knew what he wanted from life and never hesitated in going after it. He could be characterized as a driven individual, someone who understood the importance of achievement and being productive. James was decisive and outspoken at times but was also positive and upbeat about most things. He was a leader, both intentionally and sometimes by default. If he saw that something needed to be done, he was always ready to roll up his sleeves and work hard to completion.

In a group of friends and acquaintances, James and Nancy were often quick to take the initiative to go up and greet someone new. That quality made them very approachable by others throughout his life. This same quality brought James and Nancy the reward of many friends. Maintaining loyalty to those friends was a trait that came natural to James. He believed that he should treat others in a fair manner, in the same way he wanted to be treated. While growing up, some of his best friends were Jimmie Dunn and Ronnie Upton. James Wetherbee was a very dear friend that shared a common interest as they both worked hard to make their retail stores successful. Later in life, he became dear friends with Ben Byrd and Hollis Boyd.

Family and children were one of James' greatest joys! James and Nancy were blessed with daughters Karrie, Rene' and Sherri and son-in-laws, Jeff, Mike and Brooks. They in turn blessed them with six grandchildren: Melissa, James, David, Kristina, Georgia and Kathryn. When the adding of two more granddaughters, Whitney and Charisse (by marriage) came along, they were immediately part of the family and he loved them from the start! The birth of great grandsons, Noah and Brayden and watching how God has worked in their lives brought him great joy as well! As the family continued to grow he welcomed two more great-grandchildren by marriage, Hannah and Elijah!

James' children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren were one of his greatest joys. He adored each one of them and loved time spent with them. James loved their Family Traditions. They all gathered together for every holiday. Many holidays the family came together in a state of exhaustion due to working so hard in the family business. But coming together as family, eating meals together, laughing and playing with each and every grandbaby was near to his heart. Watching each one of them grow up and them still loving coming together for family times meant a great deal to him too!

James loved the tradition of singing Christmas Carols and taking family pictures on Christmas Day! Another tradition that started when the grandkids were very young was putting up their Ninnie and PaPa’s Christmas Tree on Thanksgiving Day. It began as a way of helping them get the tree up; but quickly became a yearly tradition. Mother’s and Father’s Day, and Birthdays were times to come together for Ninnie's grilled hamburgers & cheese dip. Easter and Christmas were always the Holiday where Ninnie would make the delicious traditional Noodles. Grandmother Smiths or Grandmother Welborn’s Noodles-they were always a traditional favorite. Ninnie and PaPa’s house was always a welcoming and loving place and all knew upon leaving that PaPa would make his way to the car to press his thumb on the window as his way of saying goodbye for now. Every daughter, son and grandchild would take great delight in seeing PaPa press his thumb against their window just one more time!

James loved Jesus with all his heart. He and Nancy raised their children in church during the early years and throughout his later years, they were both very active members of Shady Oaks Baptist Church where he served as deacon! He was also active in the Weekend Kids Program where James and Nancy would help pack food that helped feed children over the weekends! He spent early mornings gathering with his friends at McDonalds. When he first started hanging out with this group of men, he loved to say,” We guys don’t gossip at all, we just tell the facts!” After meeting with these men every morning Monday -Friday, a few of them would go to different places to pick up donations and then deliver them to NEED! James continued to do this until he began his radiation and became too weak.

James and Nancy played lots of dominos with each other. They often played every single day. They were also part of the Shady Oaks Domino Group. This brought great joy to both James and Nancy! They loved being with these very dear friends. Once a month on Thursday nights they would play at a different home and enjoyed the sweet friendships, good food and the thrill of winning a round or two!

The family business of Happiness and Hollys Hallmark closed the last three stores December of 2016. The Holy Spirit placed the closing of the business on their hearts and little did they know that James would be diagnosed with Cancer in November of 2016.

James took his promotion to heaven on April 15, 2017 at Harris Hospital in Bedford, Texas. He died from the tumor on his brain stem. He was diagnosed in November of 2016 and passed away 5 months later. He was never in pain and he finished strong. This time of passing while very sad for the family, it was a time that God’s presence was felt deeply by everyone. God orchestrated James’ passing in such a way that in the wee hours of the morning Nancy, the daughters, sons, grand and great grandchildren were able to gather by his bedside in ICU. There was praying, singing of hymns and a peaceful time to love on each other and say goodbyes for now to their beloved Husband, Dad, and PaPa. He is survived by his wife, Nancy Welborn and his daughters, son-in-law’s, grandchildren and great grandchildren. The Celebration of James’ life was held at Shady Oaks Baptist Church of Hurst. He was laid to rest at Bluebonnet Cemetery. The family knows that their precious Dad/PaPa is busy at work in The Heavenly Realm giving his 110%! We can only imagine as he is conversing with Paul, singing with Peter, and walking in the Garden with Jesus Himself!

Do You Know Jesus as Your Lord and Savior? Do you know Him to be God’s Son, sent to be the light in this very dark world? Do you know if you will be walking with James in the heavenly’s when your life here on earth is done?

James would say to you,” Ask Jesus into your heart THIS VERY DAY! Work intentionally to live your life for God and shine your light for Him!”

Our time here on earth is but a blink of the eye; but eternity is FOREVER! Walk with Him and talk with Him! It will take only the tiny faith of a mustard seed.

God will meet you where you are at. But He will not intrude upon your life. He is kind and compassionate and He will wait to be INVITED in.

He will fill you with joy, peace and comfort. In your good times, HE IS THERE! And when the days are gloomy and you feel hopeless, HE IS THERE!

He loves us that much! He sent His Son Jesus to pay the ultimate price so that our sins would be forgiven and we would be pure and righteous to have a personal relationship with God our Heavenly Father and Creator!

When we all get to Heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see JESUS, we'll sing and shout for VICTORY!!!

Amen and Amen!

See you soon James, Dad, PaPa, Friend!

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James David Welborn, 81, went to be with our Lord and Savior on Saturday, April 15, 2017. Funeral: 1 p.m. Wednesday at Shady Oaks Baptist Church, 1336 Cavender Drive, Hurst, Texas 76053, with burial following in Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Park. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home. James grew up in Floydada, Texas. He served in the U.S. Army in 1955 and 1956. After his military service, James attended West Texas State University and received his bachelor's in three years. He held several jobs after college. He worked for an electrical company and Westinghouse as a branch manager and was a sales rep in the World Trade Center,in Dallas, Texas. In 1977 he opened his first Hallmark Store and was the CEO of Happiness/ Holly's Hallmark for 40 years. It was a family-owned and operated business. He was loved and will be missed. James was preceded in death by his sister, Eunice Lewis. James was a devoted and wonderful husband, dad, PaPa and friend. He and Nancy attended Shady Oaks Baptist Church of Hurst, Texas, where he served as deacon. Survivors: James is survived by his wife of 61 years, Nancy Welborn; daughters, Karrie Coben and husband, Jeff, Rene Zubroski and husband, Mike, and Sherri Smith and husband, Brooks; grandchildren, Melissa Coben, David Coben and wife Whitney, James Zubroski and fiancee, Charisse, Kristina Zubroski, Georgia Smith and Kathryn Smith; great-grandchildren, Noah and Brayden; siblings; Donna Booth and husband, Clarmon, Bobby Welborn and wife, Nancy, and Joann Gooch. He also is survived by many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-ephews and many many friends he loved dearly.