Edmund Thomas Welch

BELLINGHAM – Dr. Edmund Thomas Welch, 89, of West Hartford, Conn., passed away at home on Thursday, May 28.

Born in North Attleboro, Mass., he was the eldest son of Dr. Edmund and Agnes (McManus) Welch, Sr. Ed graduated as valedictorian from North Attleboro High School and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in New York, NY in 1949 and was elected a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Following a medical internship at Hartford Hospital, Ed served in the US Navy and was honorably discharged as a lieutenant in 1954. He served his residency in anesthesiology at Hartford Hospital, was appointed to the staff there in 1956 and remained at Hartford Hospital until his retirement in 1993. Ed was elected Director of the Anesthesiology Department in 1973 and served in that position until 1982. He was president of the Connecticut State Society of Anesthesiologists in 1970 and was recognized by the Horace Wells Society for outstanding achievement in the field of anesthesiology. He was also an Associate Examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology.

Ed leaves behind his beloved Jeannine (Dubois) Welch, his wife of 62 years. He is also survived by four daughters, Jan and her husband, Carl B. Norwood, Leslie and her husband, Walter L. Rogers, Louise Welch and her husband, Michael Daves, and Kelly Welch and her fiancé, Steven Anderson; ten grandchildren, Alison Norwood (Seamus) Hughes, Bradley Norwood, Edmund T. (Molly) Welch IV, Craig (Whitney) Welch, Scott Welch, William, Jeannine, Elizabeth, Meghan Rogers and Elias Rahman; and three great-grandchildren, Ava and Genevieve Welch and Declan Hughes. Ed also leaves behind his brother, Dr. Robert Welch and wife, Patricia, and his sister, Patricia and her husband, Dr. James Moriarty as well as many nieces and nephews. Ed was pre-deceased by his son, Edmund T. Welch III. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, was loved deeply and will be missed dearly.

Ed enjoyed boating and fishing for blues in Long Island and Nantucket Sounds in his younger days and fly-fishing in the rivers of Vermont, where he lived in retirement for 16 years. He took great pleasure in stocking his pond in VT with trout and attempting to catch them before the resident blue heron did so. Ed was also an avid tennis player and a keen amateur astronomer.

In retirement, he was an active volunteer at the Manchester public library, with the Pre-School Breakfast program in Londonderry and with the Head Start program in Bennington. Ed and his wife, Jeannine, were known for throwing legendary parties in West Hartford and Vermont. He was a voracious reader, possessed a quick wit, and was a loyal friend and a true gentleman. Ed's family would like to thank the staff of The Reservoir nursing facility, especially Angela, Rose and Andrea as well as Terry and Sarah at Hartford Healthcare at Home Hospice Care for their kind and cheerful care of Ed in his last days.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society at cancer.org/fight or to Hartford Hospital at giving.harthosp.org/tributedonations. His family will receive friends and relatives from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3 at Molloy Funeral Home, 906 Farmington Ave., West Hartford, Conn. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 4 at St. Peter Claver Church, 47 Pleasant St., West Hartford. Burial services will be private in Bellingham. Online expressions of sympathy may be made at molloyfuneralhome.com.