John Leonard Welch

John L. Welch passed away on June 17, 2010. He was born in Baring, Missouri on June 27, 1921 to John Leo and Rose Ann McCauley Welch. His family relocated to Edina, Missouri and grew to nine children. John enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 1941 where he served during World War II in the South Pacific. During his service he received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Following the war he attended the University of Missouri and received his BS in Engineering in 1949. He began working with Westinghouse Corp. in Kansas City, Missouri. During this time he met Roberta Mae Lorson and they married in 1951. They began a family which eventually grew to five children. In 1960, they moved to California where John worked for 25 years with Rockwell International. He was active in St. Josephs Catholic Church, the Servite Boosters, and the Second Harvest Food Bank. He was preceded in death by Roberta, his wife of 57 years; his sisters, Katie Walter and Rita Bristow and his brothers, Bill and Tom, all from Kansas City. He is survived by his brother, Bob Welch of Austin, Texas, his sisters, Aileen Diebold and Peg Walter of Kansas City; and sister Rosie Tiehen of Dahinda, Illinois; his children, Bill, John, Mary, Dan, and Jim; his daughters-in-law, Kathy, Karen, and Vicki; and his grandchildren, Amy, Michelle, Jonathan, Parker, Jacob, Michael, Kaely, Patrick, and Jason. Visitation will be Thursday, June 24th, from 6:00"7:00 p.m., followed by the Rosary at McAulay & Wallace Mortuary, 902 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton. Funeral Mass will be on Friday, June 25th at 10:30 a.m. at St. Josephs Catholic Church, 717 N. Bradford, Placentia. Burial with military honors will follow at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, Orange. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of John to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, 8014 Marine Way, Irvine, CA 92618.