Walter Laurence Welch

Walter Laurence “Larry” Welch, 96, was a lifelong reader and learner, a born teacher, and a model of positivity for his family, friends, and students. He loved people, especially young people.

A Port Angeles, Wash., resident for 55 years, he and wife Marilyn relocated to Port Townsend, Wash., in early 2023. After a series of falls which resulted in a broken hip that required surgery, he died on April 16, 2023, at Forest Ridge Health and Rehab in Bremerton, Wash.

Larry was born on June 22, 1926, in Grove City, Pa. He enjoyed a boyhood in western Pennsylvania, the son of an elementary school principal George McNees Welch and Elizabeth Blanche “Betty” Laurence Welch, who later in life became a real estate agent. He lived in the Pennsylvania communities of Rouseville, then Oil City, and recalled fond memories of summers in East Butler and St. Mary’s spent with relatives.

Among the many stories he liked to tell was a memory of the Depression era, when his mother Betty would feed the transients who rode the rails, but always in exchange for work at odd jobs around the family home.

When he was 14, his dad George woke him early on Christmas morning to tell him that they would have to open gifts quickly before he took Betty to the hospital. The family of three grew to four that day when brother Charles “Chuck” Welch was born.

After graduating from Oil City High School in 1944, Larry joined the U.S. Navy while the world was still at war. He served for two years, notably for a time aboard the U.S.S. Impulse, a flower-class corvette that was intended to escort merchant vessels. He made numerous trips through U-boat-infested waters from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to New York City and back. While on leave in New York, he took in many Broadway shows, which reinforced his lifelong love of theater.

He went to college on the G.I. Bill, first at Grove City College in Pennsylvania., then at Syracuse University in New York where he graduated cum laude. Later, he earned his master’s degree in education at Columbia University Teacher’s College.

He taught in Gouverneur, N,Y., and Sparrows Point, Maryland, near Baltimore, where he met Marilyn Rose Adcock, who taught at the same high school. He got to know her better by offering to drive her to and from school. They were married in Anderson, Indiana, on June 26, 1954.

After spending a sweltering summer in New York City, the couple eventually made their home in McLean, Virginia, where Larry taught reading, study skills, speech and drama at Stratford Junior High, which became notable in 1959 for becoming the first public school in Virginia to desegregate. Some of the faculty were resistant to integration of Black students, but not Larry. He taught all four of the new students admitted that year.

While in McLean, daughter Lynn was born in December 1956 and then son Dave in April 1959.

Larry began a stint working for Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics, which taught techniques for speed reading. The job prompted the family’s move to New Rochelle, N.Y. When he returned to public school teaching, the family moved again to Warrensville Heights, Ohio, and he taught at Roxboro Junior High in Cleveland Heights and classes at Cuyahoga Community College. While living in suburban Cleveland, Larry and Marilyn became members of Aldersgate Methodist Church, where they found a spiritual home and Larry directed religious drama.

During two car trips west in the mid-1960s, Larry and Marilyn discovered and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. After Larry was hired over the phone to teach at Roosevelt Junior High in Port Angeles, Wash., they subsequently relocated there in fall of 1967. Next, he secured a position at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, teaching his traditional subjects of reading, study skills, speech, and drama, plus a course in children’s literature, which was close to his heart, and an introduction to education class for would-be teachers. He inspired many of those students to go on to teaching careers. Former students have often said how his passion for teaching young people fueled their own career paths. His own children, Lynn and Dave, said they believe their lives were enriched because their dad was a teacher. Larry’s inherent friendliness and curiosity about the world and its people was a trait everyone admired.

Larry and Marilyn sought a church community to follow their congregation in Ohio and eventually found it by joining with other like-minded families to form a House Church. They believed in putting their money toward good works in the community such as the food bank and other social needs rather than tithing to pay for a minister’s salary and a church building. They met in members’ homes and alternated who planned the worship. These were friendships that would last for decades.

Besides teaching, House Church, friends, and family, Larry also enjoyed a variety of other hobbies and community involvements. He served on the Friends of the Library board for the North Olympic Library System, acted as president of the Clallam County Fuchsia Society, waved signs for school levies and pool initiatives, and supported First Book, a nonprofit organization that strives to eliminate barriers to education by distributing books to underserved populations.

He directed plays at First Presbyterian Church in Port Angeles and at Peninsula College, acted in Port Angeles Community Players productions and supported the Players in other ways, and was involved in the Port Angeles Light Opera Association, notably in a production of “Fiddler on the Roof.” He directed choral speaking choirs, including at Easter sunrise services at Peninsula College.

He loved travel; he and Marilyn went to Europe and Great Britain several times, and a couple of times to Asia. They, along with Lynn and Dave, enjoyed many road trips throughout the U.S. and Canada. Larry especially loved the beach, whether it was along the Atlantic or Pacific coasts, the Great Lakes, or the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Larry also loved gardening, tending his fuchsias, baking bread, hot tubbing with friends, learning about his genealogical roots, camping at Kalaloch, snacking on graham crackers and milk at bedtime, and playing John Phillips Sousa marches on Saturday mornings. He also was quite content to take a book out to Ediz Hook in Port Angeles and enjoy reading by the water. He enjoyed a daily walk nearly until he died.

He had a genuine curiosity about people and enjoyed chatting with most anyone, but especially kids of all ages. Young and old always felt as if Larry really listened. He had a knack for seeing the good in people.

He also appreciated learning new things. Once he took a pottery class with son Dave, and later in life embraced educating himself about computers and the internet. With great enthusiasm, he signed up for a class about the Vikings after he turned 90.

Just before he turned 90, he became a published author, when decades of a keen interest in children’s literature came to fruition in a guidebook for parents and grandparents about how to choose great books for young people. Read to Me NOW, Grandpa was a family affair, with Marilyn and daughter Lynn editing the manuscript, grandson Sam writing a foreword, grandson Clay designing the cover art, son Dave managing social media, and grandkids Ben, Casey, and Leah drawing interior art.In their last years in Port Angeles, Larry and Marilyn made a home at Park View Villas, where they were active participants in the culture of the retirement home for as long as they could be. They later moved to Port Townsend to be closer to daughter Lynn.

Larry would have turned 100 years old this year. Wife Marilyn also lived until age 96; she died in July 2026. Survivors include a brother, Charles Welch (Sandy), of Greenville, S.C.; daughter Lynn Welch Nowak (John) of Port Townsend, Wash.; son David Welch (Kathleen) of Arlington, Wash.; grandsons Clay Havens Nowak (Rachel) of Portland, Ore., Sam Nowak of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, Ben Welch (Katherine) of Bellingham, Wash., Casey Welch (Natalie) of Lake Stevens, Wash.; granddaughter Leah Lawson (Sean) of Granite Falls, Wash.; six great-grandchildren; three nephews; and other extended family.

A celebration of life is planned for both Larry and Marilyn at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13 at the Community Playhouse, 1235 E. Lauridsen Blvd., in Port Angeles. Memorials may be made to the Community Players, P.O. Box 2807, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or to the Peninsula College Library, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles, WA 98362.