John William Welch

John Welch, 91 of Everett, Washington, passed away Friday, November 2, 2012 at Clare Bridge at Silver Lake where he had resided for the past 3 years.

John was born December 24, 1920 in Friday Harbor, Wa. He married Ruth Eckrem on July 4, 1942. They were married 64 1/2 years before her death in 2006. John was a veteran, serving in the Army during WWII. He retired in 1981 after 41 years with the Boeing Company.

John's Boeing career began in Everett/Seattle in 1941 with time off in 1945 when he entered the Army during WWII where part of his service was spent in Germany. After his service, he returned to Boeing. In 1955 he was transferred to Moses Lake. After 7 years he returned to Seattle but only briefly before he began work on the Minute Man Program which took him and the family to Montana, S. Dakota, Missouri, Nebraska, and N. Dakota in over just 4 years before returning to Seattle. In 1967 John was transferred to the Everett Boeing plant and remained there until retiring in 1981.

John and his wife, Ruth, visited Norway twice where Ruth's parents were from. She was still in contact with several cousins living there. They visited England when their daughter was stationed there with her husband while serving in the Air Force. Other travels included Hawaii and a Mexican cruise.

John was a true "outdoorsman." He enjoyed fishing of all kinds, salmon, halibut, cod, trout, bass, and whatever else he might catch. He took several fishing trips to Alaska and Canada with friends and his son. He was an avid hunter. Every fall he went to Eastern Washington with family and friends on deer or elk hunting trips. He went to Canada on guided moose hunting trips on two separate occasions. As a family, the years were always filled with camping trips to various locations.

John loved boating and water sports. He enjoyed skiing especially at Banks Lake in Eastern Washington. After heart surgery when he was around eighty, he was back skiing 3 months later! He skied up until the summer before he was 85!!

On those boating trips, he would also tube behind the boat well into his 80's, and ride on the back of a jet ski with his grandsons.

John was a great bowler. At times he was on three leagues at one time and this was in his 70's and 80's. He had a very high average and won many trophies over the years for high average, high game, etc.

John and his wife loved to work in the garden. In their backyard they always had a huge garden and supplied family and friends with lots of veggies and oh the zucchini!!

John was known for his ability to fix anything. His garage was full of every and any tool you could think of. Over the years he built a boat, a camper, dune buggy, a pair of water skis and he made beautiful wood gun stalks. Even if he would buy something new, like a camping trailer or boat, you can be sure he would make changes to it in some way.

John was a friendly, and outgoing and liked by everyone. He enjoyed his family and especially all the grandchildren.

Even with his advancing dementia, he was happy and always had a smile on his face. If you would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply. "No, complaints"

He was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth; parents, Charles and Dortha; sisters, Olive and Edith; brothers, Bob and "Red".

John is survived by daughters, Darlena (Jim) Hickey of Everett, Judy (Gene) Morgan of Los Lunas, New Mexico, Eileen (Bill) Patton of SeaTac, Wa., and son John (Kathy) Welch of Everett, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, 4 great-great-grandchildren, brother Joe and many nieces and nephews.

He will be missed by all but will live in our hearts forever.

Services will be held at 1:00 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012 at Purdy & Walters with Cassidy Funeral Home 1702 Pacific Ave. Everett, Wa. 98201.

Donations may be made in John's name to Hospice.