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| Harry J. Welch 1921 - 2011 |
This past week Dave and I were in Denver for a memorial service for Harry Welch, whom I've affectionately called "My Oldie" in this blog. He died over a week ago.
Last Saturday, during the Christmas Parade I was really missing him because, as you know, Harry stopped more than one parade to allow his wife, who was the love of his life, to cross the street to have her hair done.
There is no way, at this point, to convey how I felt about this larger than life character. But his family and the minister did a good job of capturing who he was.
His son wrote the following words about him in a song:
This is the man that I remember,
He was strong and caring and smart,
He saw the world as a Van Gogh painting,
He knew life as a work of art.
About a dozen years ago Harry was invited by a man in Winter Park to be a part of a small group of men to gather and discuss great ideas in philosophy, history, theology, and so on. I, of course, teased Harry by referring to it as the Woman Haters Club. Later on this same man started another group for both sexes so I was able to be a part of it, along with Harry. And I was reminded once again, as we discussed great books, of what a brilliant man he was.
Last week I wrote this man to tell him Harry had died. He wrote back saying:
I'm so sorry to hear about Harry, who I always adored. He was a very special guy with an amazing mind and sense of humor, and I'll miss him enormously.
And so will I.
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