Richard Ira Welling, Sr.

Richard I. "Dick" Welling, Sr.

Thomson, GA. – Mr. Richard I. Welling, Sr., 83, entered into eternal rest April 13, 2019.

The son of the late Karl Welling and the late Winifred (Lorgan) Welling, Mr. Welling grew up in New York and New Jersey. After graduating from Port Jervis High School, he enlisted in the U. S. Navy in 1953. His military service took him and his family to Guam, Florida, Illinois, Panama, Massachusetts, California, and Hawaii. Dick retired after 21 years of service as an Electronics Technician Senior Chief. After his retirement from the US Navy in 1975 at Pearl Harbor, he and his family moved to Pennsylvania, where he worked in electronics and as a school bus driver. In 1980, he and his family moved to Thomson, GA where he held many different jobs, some of which were as an electrician at Fort Gordon Army Depot, as a salesman, and as a truck driver for Vigortone. In 1994, Richard remarried and blended families with Cheryl (Becky) Harper Gay. He was a member of Queen of Angels Catholic Church and member of the Knights of Columbus. Mr. Welling was an avid reader and golfer and a member of Thomson Country Club and Belle Meade Country Club.

Survivors include his wife, Becky Welling; son, Richard I. "Rick" Welling, Jr. (Stephanie); daughter, Karol Welling; step daughters, Dorothy Carter and Charlene Brooks; sister, Nancy Brehm; grandchildren, Kaitlin Welling, Richard Brooks Welling, Tara Wimberly, Tabitha Jones, Cliff Jones and Jessica Barnes and 14 great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, April 20, 2019 in the chapel of Beggs Funeral Home, Thomson with Father Stephen Lyness as Celebrant. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. A reception will follow at Belle Meade Country Club.

Beggs Funeral Home, 799 Cobbham Rd., Thomson, Georgia is honored to serve the family of Richard Welling.