Football: Former Team Dentist Dies
May 08, 2007 09:01 AM | General
May 8, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- John Thomas Welch, of Morgantown, W.Va., passed away at Ruby Memorial Hospital on Friday, May 4, 2007, from complications arising from a stroke. Dr. Welch was born May 21, 1928, in Clarksburg, W.Va., the son of Frank and Irene Foley Welch. He was predeceased by his parents and his brother, Frank.
Dr. Welch was raised in Clarksburg, attending Washington Irving High School, then graduating from Mercersburg Academy in 1946. He then attended his beloved West Virginia University, where he was a member of the Sigma Chi social fraternity. He received his degree in chemistry in 1949.
John graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, in 1954, and then was on active duty with the U.S. Air Force from 1954 to 1956, stationed at Rushmore Air Force Base. He retired from the USAF Reserves in 1971.
Dr. Welch interned in oral surgery at University Hospital in Baltimore and then did his residency at WVU Hospital.
John joined the faculty at the WVU School of Dentistry in 1958. He served WVU Hospitals Inc. and the Oral Surgery Department for 35 years. During his career he served as professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, chairman of the Department of Hospital Dentistry, and director of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Training.
He also received an appointment at the Charleston Area Medical Center, where he lectured to the general practice residents. He retired in 1993 as Professor Emeritus.
He was awarded membership in Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the West Virginia Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, and was a Diplomat of the American Board of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, and a Fellow in the American College of Dentists.
His passion for service to WVU and the profession of oral surgery lives on through his many former residents, colleagues and friends. John served as team dentist and oral surgeon for the WVU football team and the WVU Athletic Department for 25 years. He was inducted as a member of the WVU Alumni Association Emeritus Club in 1999.
John is survived by his wife of 56 years, Rose Anne Ash Welch, and his daughter, Anne Welch Miller and her husband, Tim, of Charleston. John was the very proud grandfather of four, Tim Jr., 26 (Arlington, Va.), Katie, 24 (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Laura, 21 (senior at WVU), and Thomas, 15 (Charleston); and his nephew, Robert S. Welch and his wife, Susan, of Dunn, N.C.
