William Donald Welch (Died January 27, 2009 at Vero Beach Fl.)
W. Don Welch was born June 24, 1930, in Jacksonville, Florida. His parents were William Hampton and Verde Welch.
Don enjoyed a long and productive career as a port management and transportation system expert. But the focus of Dons life was his family. He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Lillemor, his daughter, Pia Garvin and husband Merrell of McCormick, SC., daughter, Ingrid Welch of Charleston, SC, his son, Donald C. Welch and wife Sandra of Charleston, grandchildren, Stina Garvin, Cody Garvin, Donald A. Welch, Carrie K. Welch and William Welch Mount, great-grand daughter, Hanna Garvin, and his aunt, Ruby Welch of Cross City, Fl.
His life is a story of personal and public achievements, world travel and new experiences. For more than 50 years, his professional colleagues were always eager for his insights and counsel as the nations transportation system became more and more complex. His devotion to his family was an everyday priority for Don, and he practiced a discipline that separated his demanding work activities from his cherished family time. He always considered himself the boy from Dixie County, who grew up understanding and appreciating the values and ethics of work and education. He was an avid outdoorsman and an accomplished bass fisherman. He especially enjoyed regaling his children and grandchildren with his boyhood tales of hunting, fishing, and the general mischief attending life growing up in rural central Florida.
Don earned his B.A. degree in economics from the University of Florida in 1951. He served as a U.S. Army artillery officer during the Korean Conflict. In 1956, he was awarded a M.S. degree in transportation Economics from the University of Tennessee.
After teaching transportation logistics at the University of Tennessee for two years, he began his distinguished career in corporate transportation logistics and public port management, gaining a reputation as an innovator and mentor in management techniques at port authorities.
He worked four years as transportation research manager for the Humble Oil and Refining Company in Houston, Texas, and in 1962, he became corporate general manager of traffic and transportation of U.S. Plywood- Champion Papers, Inc. in Hamilton, Ohio.
In 1971, he and his family moved to Charleston, SC, where he became executive director and chief executive officer of the S.C. State Ports Authority. For 26 years, he guided the development of South Carolinas ports and harbors and the Port of Charleston was transformed into a state-of-the art containership terminal complex. When Don retired in 1997, Charleston ranked as the second busiest containership port on the East Coast. He has been called the architect of the South Carolina port system. The Port of Charlestons newest facility is named in his honor, the Wando Welch Terminal.
Don considered teaching a professional obligation. He mentored dozens of port management professionals practicing at port authorities throughout the United States.
His career accomplishments were well-recognized with numerous awards. These included the transportation industrys most prestigious honor, the Harry E. Salzberg Memorial Medallion awarded by the School of Management at Syracuse University. In 1981, he was elected chairman of the American Association of Ports Authorities, which includes the major port authorities in 33 countries of the Western Hemisphere. And in 1981, he was named the University of Tennessee Distinguished Alumnus. The College of Charleston in 1990 created the W. Don Welch Medallion to be awarded for meritorious contributions to the transportation industry. In 2004, he was inducted in the S.C. Maritime Industry Hall of Fame.
Don retired as South Carolinas port director in 1997. He and Lillemor then moved to Florida where they spent time at Vero Beach and at the Welch family home in Dixie County.
Funeral services will be private. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made in honor and memory of Don Welch to VNA Hospice of Indian River County, 1110 35th lane Vero Beach Florida 32960.