Harold Mark Welch passed away June 4, 2018 at home in Conroe, Texas. He was born February 16, 1924 in Youngstown, Ohio to Cecil R. Welch Sr. and Edith (Kelso) Welch. He told wonderful stories of growing up in a steel town during the depression.
At 17, Harold went to work for Youngstown Sheet and Tube in the steel mill. A table stacked with corrugated steel runway plates collapsed and he lost his right foot. After recovering he went back to YST as an apprentice draftsman. He worked his way up from checking drawings, to drawing one type of column before moving on to another to draftsman to draftsman designer, and finally to engineer designer.
He moved from Ohio to Fort Worth and finally to Houston in the late 1940’s. He worked for Offenhauser Co. helping to design the metal work on several of downtown Houston’s skyscrapers. He moved on to Schlumberger Well Services designing down hole logging trucks and offshore logging units. During this time, he worked on the “Mohole Project” a 1960’s attempt to drill through the Earth’s crust.
Retiring in 1982.
Harold met the love of his life, Caroline Drake, on a blind date and they married on Thanksgiving Day 1953. He said that way he would always remember their anniversary!
He was a Scout Master, a softball coach, and a very involved dad. There were family vacations almost every summer. Camping trips to Niagara Falls then into Ontario across to Windsor and down through Michigan and back home. Others to Yellowstone, Yosemite, Mesa Verde & Ouray Colorado, Glacier National Park, Banff, Victoria and down the West Coast. They continued to travel after their retirement cruising the St. Lawrence, traveling to Alaska and China.
An avid woodworker and mechanic, Harold restored a 1956 Ford Thunderbird and a 1970 Porsche 914. He was an active member of HAL-PC, learning how to build a computer and operate it (in DOS) before he would buy one. He was also active in the Schlumberger Retirees Club, at one point serving on the board.
Harold was preceded in death by his parents, his brother C. R. Welch Jr. his daughter Margaret “Peggy” Welch and three weeks ago by his wife Caroline. He is survived by son, David Welch and wife, Dawn of Nacogdoches, Texas; daughter, Barbara Bason and husband, Darrell of Conroe, Texas. Also surviving are her grandchildren, William, Hannah, Joshua, Rachel, Mark, John and a great grandchild expected in August.
Funeral Services will be held at Waltrip Funeral Directors in Houston Thursday June 7, 2018 at 10:00 with interment at 11:30 at Memorial Oaks Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity.
