Bud Eugene Welker's Obituary
Bud Eugene Welker was born April 7th, 1926, in St Anthony, Idaho. He died December 11th, 2015, in Chula Vista, California, at 89.Bud was the 4th of 10 children born to Leo Welker and Cathern Morgan.In 1944 he enlisted in the Navy, a few days before his 18th birthday, in order to avoid being drafted into the army. He trained as an Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Arresting Gear and Barrier), a Navy way of saying that he handled the cables that caught planes which landed on air craft carriers, among other things.He left the navy after World War II ended, and did various jobs such as fighting forest fires and selling insurance. Eventually he started work at the North Island Naval Air Station, where he stayed for over 40 years. He started as metal worker, and continued that for many years. After completing numerous college classes, he transitioned into an efficiency engineer, at which he worked until he retired in the early 1990s.He married Betty Walters in November 1950, with whom he had two daughters, Annette Louise and Lana Gay. He and Betty divorced in February 1962.He married Darlene Lillian Draper in the Manti, Utah temple in July 1963, and both worked for a few years until they could buy a house for their planned family. Together they had 4 boys: Bryce Eugene, Kenneth Vaughn, and the twins, Russell Benjamin and James Laurence; finally they received their girls: Denise Lorraine and Linda Marie.He liked dancing, roller skating, writing poetry, road trips, camping, working with his hands, ice cream, and cookies. He enjoyed playing on the ward softball team, often pitching, and also liked to participate in Church track meets. As a younger man, he enjoyed long board surfing, and body-surfed frequently into his early 80’s at his beloved Southern California beaches.Dad was a life-long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Over many decades in the Chula Vista First Ward, he held quite a few callings, such as High Priest Group leader, assistant High Priest Group leader, Ward Mission Leader, and various Ward Clerk positions. Before the ward was organized, he served as a counselor in the branch presidency. After he retired, he started as an ordinance worker in the San Diego Temple, working at least one and sometimes two scheduled shifts a week, and often substituting as needed for other times as well. He will be missed by everyone.
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