Everett Wesley Welcome

Everett "Ed" Welcome
Ed was born on February 14, 1941, in Hartford, CT to Maude Nichols Welcome and Lawrence George Welcome. He was the fifth of seven children. He grew up in Deerfield and Greenfield, MA being raised by his grandparents. He graduated from Greenfield High School with Honors, where he also was a running back on the football team.
Always hard-working and studious, Ed worked for the local department store and was able to live above it thanks to the owner of the store. He left home at 14 due an abusive grandfather and never looked back. After high school, feeling that his options were limited financially, he enlisted in the USMC. Mr. Reid, the store owner offered to pay for business school, but my dad had already enlisted. He said that Mr. Reid was the best "father" he ever had because Mr. Reid truly believed in him. This gave Ed the confidence to forge ahead in life.
The Marines stationed Ed at Guantanamo Bay and he was able to see the world, and rose to the rank of Corporal. After his service in the Marines, he returned home to Massachusetts, where he quickly found work assisting the manager at Westfield Clay Products ("The Best Brick Around!"), thereby enabling him to settle in Westfield, MA.
He met his future wife, Joan Carol Marie Polant Welcome from Mt. Vernon, NY, at the apartment complex where they both lived. After a brief engagement, they married on February 5th, 1964. They moved to Deerfield to be closer to his family, and that is where they welcomed their firstborn, a son, Christopher Mark Welcome in 1966. They then moved to Claremont, NH for another employment opportunity in 1970 and were blessed with a second child, a daughter, Lorie Jean Welcome Power.
It took a particularly rough New Hampshire winter to convince Ed and Joan to move to sunny California in 1973, settling in Hemet after another New Hampshire friend had moved there. He found in employment at a local nursery while Joan worked as a secretary at NAPA Auto Parts. This was the spark that drove Ed to start his own business, "Mr. Ed's Gardening & Landscaping" in 1976. He also enlisted in the Army National Guard at that time. He earned many commendations for his service and was called "Tops" by his men, for 1st Sergeant.
He retired from the military in 1990 with honors. In the winter of 1999, he lost Joan to a sudden heart attack, which devastated him. Ever resilient, he moved forward, one foot in front of the other every day. Eventually, he remarried in 2002, to Judith Engert, a family friend. After a few blissful years together, Judy succumbed to Alzheimer's Disease. It was through his fraternal organizations, the Eagles Post 4099, and the American Legion in Hemet, that he found comfort in his many friends.
He passed in the early hours of Friday, September 20th at the age of 83 after a very brief hospitalization. He leaves behind his son, Christopher, his wife, Joyce and their children, Willow, 17 and Tristan 13, of Port Townsend, WA; his loving daughter, Lorie, her husband Ted, and children, Lauren, 18 and Heath, 14, of Plainfield, IL. His brothers, Donny & Sonny, of Deerfield, MA; sister Eva Marturano; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his two wives, Joan and Judy; his brothers, Dennis and Howard, and sister, Ellen Welcome Isleib.
Mr. Ed, Dad, was one of the strongest men we have ever known. He touched many and probably annoyed just as many! Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: "To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded". Ed was truly a success in his life, and he will be missed greatly.
Services will be held Monday, October 21 at 10am at Arlington Mortuary in Riverside, CA; Burial will follow at Noon at Riverside National Cemetery; A Happy Hour in Ed's Honor will be held at The Fraternal Order of Eagles in Hemet at 2pm. If you wish to make a donation, please make one in Ed's honor to The American Legion in Hemet.