Robert G. H. Welch

Bob Welch relocated to Heaven on Saturday, April 3, 2004, after a year long battle of stomach and esophageal cancer. 2004 will be an extra special Easter celebration. Bob was preceded in death by his parents Florence ?Mulla? and George Welch and younger brother Johnny. He is survived by two daughters: Becky Welch and Susie Kelley-Hartman and husband Mickey; a son, Brad Welch and wife Sally; a step son, David Welch of San Francisco; his sister and brother in law, Bebe and Don Warren of Palm Beach; seven grandchildren; three nieces; and numerous grandnieces and grandnephews. His children and grandchildren all reside in the Tampa Bay area. Bob Welch was born on October 2, 1928, in Greenville, SC. and enjoyed work, oil painting, golf, tennis, fishing, and hunting in rural South Carolina, all of which he continued to do as an adult. He confessed that the highlight of his youth was when he became a born-again Christian at 7 years of age. In his teens, he was an Eagle Scout and a catcher on the baseball team. He loved to tell his grandchildren stories of how he raised pigeons during the Great Depression and sold them as a source of protein and to put food on the table for his family and neighbors in Anderson, S.C. Bob left home at age 16 to attend Duke University graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1949. He was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society. While at Duke, he was Chairman of Duke?s Judicial Committee, President of Duke?s Student Government Association, President of his Sigma Chi Fraternity, and Duke?s Head Cheerleader. He loved watching Duke Basketball. He graduated from Duke Medical School in 1953 where he was President of the Medical School Student Government Association. After completing an internship in Medicine from Duke he went on to complete another internship in Surgery from Johns Hopkins. He completed his Residency in Surgery from Johns Hopkins in 1955 where he was an Instructor in Surgery from 1954 ? 1955. He returned to his beloved Duke where he was Instructor in Surgery and was awarded the Mead Johnson Graduate Training in Surgery from 1958 - 1961, and completed his final Residency in Surgery from Duke in 1961. He moved his wife Nancy and their three children to Florida in 1961 and established a large medical practice at the St. Petersburg Medical Clinic from 1961 to 1989. He practiced medicine predominately in St. Petersburg at Bayfront, Ed White, St. Anthony?s and Palms of Pasadena. He was Chief of Surgery at Bayfront Medical Center from 1968 ? 1971 and the Chairman of the Bayfront Medical Surgical Proficiency Committee from 1966 ? 1968. He founded, built and owned the Edward H. White Memorial Hospital where he was named Chief of Staff from 1984 -1986, Chief of Surgery from 1976 ? 1978 and the Chairman of the Medical Surgical Proficiency Committee from 1976 -1978. His contributions to medicine include serving as President of the Florida Association of General Surgeons and President of the Florida Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons. He served on the Board of Governors Pinellas County Medical Society and was a Delegate of the Florida Medical Association. He was a member of the prestigious Deryl Hart Medical Society, and the American College of Chest Physicians. He is one of the few physicians in the United States to recertify with both the American Board of Surgery 1962 and 1984 and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery 1962 and 1987, proving his passion for life long learning. He semi-retired to Palm Beach and reenrolled in their local college and dreamt of getting another degree in computers and art and finishing first in his class. In his spare time, he received his recertification in surgery and started a new practice in Palm Beach. Dr. Welch had a passion for his children and grandchildren, helping people, and his medical practice. Please join his family and friends in a celebration of Dr. Bob Welch?s life on Thursday, April 8th, at 1:00 p.m. at St. John?s Episcopal Church in Hyde Park, 902 S. Orleans Ave., Tampa. In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make memorial contributions in his name to the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, 4950 W. Kennedy Blvd., Suite 250, Tampa, FL 33609. The donations will then be distributed to the American Cancer Society and Duke University. Anderson-McQueen Funeral Homes & Cremation Tribute Center-Ninth Street Chapel.