Weldon M. Long

1937 - 2020

Weldon Marion Long, 82, succumbed to the Covid-19 virus April 8th, 2020 at the Soldier's Home in Holyoke Massachusetts. He was accompanied by his son and the caring and heroic staff of the Soldier's Home.

Weldon is survived by his son, Mike, brother, William, and grandchildren, Devin and Ryan. He was preceded in death by his parents, Silas and Odessa (Bustion), and his wife Catherine (Cavatio).

Weldon was born May 8th, 1937 in Texarkana, Arkansas to Silas and Odessa. He left school after seventh grade to work on the family farm. He joined the Army and proudly served in Korea from 1957 to 1959.

After his military service, he settled in Denver Colorado and married his "first girlfriend" Catherine and had one son, Mike. He worked as a carpenter, truck driver, auto mechanic, along with being an apartment manager, till his retirement in 2002.

Weldon was also preceded in death by many of his friends and acquaintances in Denver, Colorado. Being a member of the very non-exclusive "Colfax coffee club" in Denver from the late 1960's to 2015 was a large part of Weldon's life.

This uncommonly diverse and rotating group of people contemplated some of the world's most urgent and important issues of the day. Politics, religion, race relations, the Denver Broncos, etc,.

While Weldon was very outspoken with his basic and principled beliefs of live and let live, he always was considerate and never dismissed another person or their beliefs. His primary role in these high level coffee shop discussions was as a moderator.

When things became unnecessarily heated and angry, he could always intervene with a well worn and completely irrelevant story or joke. If not effective, Weldon would then drown out the argument with his best Hank Williams impersonation. Most of the time, group members would then table the discussion for later consideration.

While his speech and communication skills were progressively hampered by Alzheimer's disease in his later years, his ability to tell a story or joke, accompanied with infectious laughter, Weldon never failed to brighten up a room or make someone's day better.

There are no memorial services scheduled at this time. In lieu of flowers or other sympathy gifts, memorial donations may be sent to the Alzheimer's Association. alz.org

The Williamsburg Funeral Home Was entrusted with his cremation.