Lawrence Welterlen

It is with great sadness, to announce that Lawrence Dabold Welterlen, loving husband of Joan, and father to Gary and Mark, passed away peacefully on November 25, 2021 in the company of family in Overland Park, Kansas at the age of ninety-one.

Larry was born July 10, 1930, in Manchester New Hampshire, to Lawrence H. and Georgia (Ordway) Welterlen.  At five years old Larry moved with his family to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, growing up on Walton St and graduating from Fitchburg High in 1948. Days after graduation Larry enlisted in the US Navy and served four years in the Atlantic aboard the destroyer escort USS Rich, rising to Radarman (Petty Officer) 2nd Class.

During the summer of 1949, while on leave, Larry, through hunting and fishing friends, was introduced to Joan LaPointe of Townsend, Massachusetts. This was the start of a love affair of over 70 years.  On July 21, 1951, he married Joan and soon two boys; Gary and Mark were on the way. With a family to support, Larry interviewed with Vern Anderson for a job as a dispatcher at the Union Coal and Oil Company starting work in 1952. Vern would come look upon Larry as the son he never had and taught him all he knew. Larry would work his entire career for Vern, becoming general manager of all of his businesses, eventually buying Union Coal and Oil from him in 1982. Over the years he expanded the Union Coal and Oil to include an on-site recycled-lubricant business serving companies throughout New England. Larry sold the company and retired in 1992 where together with Joan, made a new life in South Yarmouth on Cape Cod for the next 27 years. In 2019, Larry and Joan moved to Overland Park, Kansas to be closer to Mark and his wife Marcia.

Larry had a life-long passion for the outdoors; golf, clamming, yard work, bird watching as well as camping, hunting and fishing in his earlier years. He and Joan enjoyed U.S. and European travel and made frequent trips with family and, friends. Larry loved the fall, the change of seasons, the crispness in the air and college football with all its pageantry.

He was known for his determination, quick wit, infectious smile, and kind compassionate spirit.  Larry will be greatly missed by family and friends alike. He is preceded in death by his father Lawrence H., his mother Georgia, and brother Harold (Bubby) Welterlen; and survived by his wife Joan, his two children, Gary (Debbie) of Santa Barbara, California, and Mark (Marcia) Welterlen of Stilwell, Kansas, his sister Betty Newcombe of Wasilla, Alaska, and their three grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Larry will be interred at Forest Hill Cemetery, in Fitchburg, MA. Services will be announced at a time in the future.  In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Larry's name to the charity of your choice.