Warren Douglas "Doug" Welch

Warren Douglas "Doug" Welch

July 1, 1949 - Aug. 3, 2021

NORMAL - Warren Douglas "Doug" Welch, 72, of Normal, died on August 3, 2021, from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident in Hudson, IL. He was doing something he loved - motorcycling - on a beautiful summer day, around Lake Bloomington, one of his favorite places since childhood.

Doug was born on July 1, 1949, in Bloomington, IL, to H. Gerald and Louise (McClelland) Welch, the fourth of five children. He grew up playing at Angler's Pond and hanging out with his dad at his gas station at Main and Locust. Doug graduated from Trinity High School in 1967 and soon after, married Christine Davis and raised two daughters. He established a career as a telephone lineman/technician at GTE, later Verizon, where he worked for over 30 years and was a proud member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Doug's Catholic upbringing and his personal sense of responsibility to others led him to volunteer in many community organizations throughout his life. From Jaycees in his early adulthood where he helped build the annual haunted house, to teaching bicycle safety classes with the McLean County Wheelers, helping keep the Mackinaw River clean and stewarding the environment through involvement with Parklands Foundation, he was always busy helping people. After he took an early retirement from Verizon, he got his CDL license and drove for Midwest Food Bank as a volunteer all over the country to help get food to where it was needed most. He also served as a State Representative for the League of American Wheelmen (bicycle advocacy) and championed the establishment of the local Rails to Trails Path, Constitution Trail.

Doug is survived by his second wife Sharon; children: Elise (Michael) Wallo and Vicki (Steve) Trimpe; step-children: Roxanne (Dominique) DeGrammont and Greg (Ionela Morosanu) Broquard; ten grandchildren: Lauren and Alex Wallo, Anna, Rachel and Rebecca Trimpe, Timothy, Andrew and Robert (Viviana) Hinger, Natalie and Samantha Broquard; and two great-grandchildren. His siblings: Penny (Ben) Hiltabrand, Jane (Mick) Meilahn, and John Welch also survive. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother David.

His funeral will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 13, 2021 at Carmody-Flynn Funeral Home, Bloomington, where visitation will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 12, 2021. Cremation rites have been accorded. Inurnment will immediately follow the funeral at St. Mary's Cemetery, Bloomington. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, whose doctors successfully treated one of his grandchildren for childhood cancer.

To express condolences online, please visit www.carmodyflynn.com.