Celebrant Pam Meily Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Jimmy Marc Welton was born to Virginia and Marc Welton in 1955, in Corona, California. When he was young, Jimmy lived with his family in Nebraska and after moving back to California, grew up in Claremont. His father was a fireman while his mother was a homemaker. When he was 12, his parents divorced and Jimmy moved with his father. When he moved to El Monte, his life turned around. Jimmy picked himself up and became the most improved student in high school. With Evelyn and his father, there were rules in the house, regular meals, hugs and a wonderful family life. Jimmy was a hard worker and helped with chores. He was a good kid and his home life really opened him up. When he was 17-years-old and playing baseball at a park, he met Cindy who was 15-years-old. She lived across the street from the park and they liked hanging out together.

After graduating from Arroyo High School in El Monte, Jimmy had dreams of being a fireman. He excelled in training and passed all of the tests. But, at the time, the fire department wasn't hiring and he was added to a long waiting list. A friend sponsored him as a truck driver and soon he was hired by United Ready Mix Concrete, where he worked for the next 30 years. He moved upstairs in the offices and became a concrete batch man and dispatcher. He was good at it and the company valued his talents. He was always early to work and never missed a day. Cindy and Jimmy bought a house together and even when they moved apart for a while, Jimmy kept visiting her. Finally, one night, he picked up the phone and called her saying, "We're spinning our wheels. Why don't we get married?" Cindy agreed. In 1982, the couple was married in a beautiful backyard ceremony across the street from Uncle Bob's house. Cindy wore a lovely white dress and Jimmy wore a brown suit and peach tie. The couple exchanged the traditional vows. Cindy and Jimmy drove to Big Bear for their honeymoon. In fact, the day after the wedding they were up fishing at 5 am on the water. Jimmy always loved fishing.

Over the next few years, the couple expanded their family with the births of their three sons: Ryan, Randy and Ricky. Jimmy was in the delivery room for the birth of each one of the kids. He loved being a father. He was very involved with the kids and loved it when they played baseball, basketball, and soccer. He attended all of their games. He loved camping and fishing over the years. He liked tent camping or going to the Silver Lake cabins. The family also went for weekend trips to Big Bear, which was a family favorite.

Jimmy loved being a husband as he gave Cindy a kiss every morning and every night. He always called Cindy, "My lovely bride." While he wasn't a big shopper, recently, he bought Cindy a bottle of the perfume Boucheron and he always told everyone, "Doesn't she smell good."

Jimmy had many favorites in life. He loved cars. He had a lot of motorcycles as a kid. His first car was a Mustang. He enjoyed working on cars. He got his dream car when he bought a 1966 Silver Corvette Stingray. He also bought a Harley. He fixed cars up and sold them through Craig's List or the Recycler and always made money on them. Last year, he bought a laptop computer and loved surfing on the Internet to see what was for sale on E-bay. Jimmy enjoyed his alone time as well. He spent time by himself in the garage while looking at the mountains with binoculars. He had his TV remote, a heater and peanuts in a can. He liked going to the Swap Meet at the Foothill Drive-In Theatre every Sunday. He loved watching golf on television, especially the talents of Tiger Woods. Jimmy was a great bowler who owned his own balling ball and his own bowling shoes. He even had a fingertip ball. Ricky loved bowling with his dad, as they'd go bowling on Sundays and play for 99 cents a game. They'd bowl until they were hurting. Jimmy put up lights outside the house at Christmas time. He made the most of every day as he was up every morning before 6 am and in bed every night by 7:30 or 8 pm. He delivered little quips around the house such as "Stay out of the milk," or "Close the door, what are you trying to do, heat all of Glendora?" He didn't like arguing and he didn't like lending money. Jimmy enjoyed listening to rock music. Cindy took him to the Elton John concert in Las Vegas for his 50th birthday. The couple landed great seats in the sixth row. He liked the song, "Hello Again," by Neil Diamond. He loved pets, especially his Chihuahua puppy, his two cats and four tortoises.

When it came to Jimmy, he put it on the table, what you saw is what you got. He was likable and smart. At Thanksgiving dinner 2008, the family wrote on pieces of paper what they were thankful for. Each person pulled one and read it. Jimmy was thankful for his wife and boys.

While the best part of his life was his little world that included his family, friends and a love of golfing, the hardest part of his life was the diagnosis of stage four cancer in April 2008. There were a lot of tears, but he wanted to go back to work and he was a fighter throughout. He tried to keep everything normal. The year was not easy as he lost his Aunt Ev, his mother and his brother during 2008. In the end, he was surrounded by the family he loved so much. The family is grateful he is no longer in pain. Jimmy will be remembered as reliable, fair, and kind. He was a good husband and a wonderful father, who was so very proud of his boys.

Jimmy, who was baptized Protestant when he was young, believed in God and Heaven, and one of the last prayers he said was, "Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." Jimmy will be buried in his cream golf shirt and 30 year jacket from National. As he loved sitting in his brown recliner clicking the remote control for the television, he will be buried with the remote control in his hands, still in control.

Cindy will miss everything about Jim, her partner and best friend in life; while the kids will miss their father. If Jimmy were here, he would remind everyone that life is short and you should appreciate every moment because you just never know what will happen. Memorial donations are welcome in Jimmy Welton's name to the American Cancer Society www.cancer.org.

Jimmy was preceded in death by his mother Virginia and brother Bobby. He is loved by his entire family – his wife Cindy; his sons Ryan, Randy, and Ricky; his parents Evelyn and Marc; his siblings Cheryl Lynn, Sandy, Ed, Vicky, Diane, and Richard; and many friends.

Jim Welton:

I call him friend, I call him family, he is my brother. Jim came into our lives 40 years ago and inherited brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents and wasn't quite sure what to think of all of us. He probably thought we were a noisy group but little by little we grew on him and his love for the family grew. His high school sweetheart soon became his bride and our sister-in-law. I can still remember their wedding day and the smile on his face. I always enjoyed hearing him call Cindy his "Lovely Bride". Pretty soon their family started to grow and we all welcomed Ryan, Randy and Rick into our lives. Jim believed in working hard for his family to provide for them and love them. I remember birthday parties in their back yard, BBQ's, family gatherings, but mostly I remember always being welcome in their home. I have wonderful memories of stopping by their home on my way home to wait for the traffic to subside. It was just an excuse to stop and fill up my heart by reading books to the boys when they were little. Jim and Cindy would share the boys with me and they knew when I pulled up they would run to their book shelf and get a stack of books for me to read to them on the couch. We would catch up at the kitchen table after that and share our day. I remember sharing with Jim that I wanted to learn how to play golf and eventually, I had the opportunity to get to go golfing with Jim and Denny. Jim was so patient with me and offered little pointers to improve my game. It meant more to me that my brother was coaching me and we were all spending time together - just hangin' out. Jim truly appreciated the value of family and always expressed how blessed his life was - surrounded by people who cared about him. There are too many memories and not enough time to share them all. We were fortunate to spend Thanksgiving together and we all wrote down what we are grateful for. I was lucky to read Jims message where he was thankful for the love and support during his illness and for being considered a "Full Fledged Family Member. I consider myself lucky to have been his sister and I always will. Forty years was just not enough time. I will always carry the image of his face in my head and the sound of his voice in my heart - forever.

Love ya brother,

Your sister, Vicky

Where do I start? I’ve known Jim for more than 30 years. We all had a lot of good times. Jim was always the responsible one when we [Cindy and I] were the crazy ones. He was a hard worker and a good provider for his family. We always got along good. My kids have good memories of him. He took us all bowling and swimming. He went out of his way. He was proud of his boys. Jim will be greatly missed. I thank God for the time we did have him in our lives. I know he is up in heaven driving one of his old cars.

Love Joyce

This is very difficult for me to talk about my Uncle Jim, but he was a very happy kind soul. Always welcoming, & joking whenever we got together for family get-togethers. I looked up to him as a great dad. I always thought of him as a "Ward Cleaver" from the show "leave it to beaver" I know for sure that he is now on his way to becoming a guardian angel. He was, is, & will always be around watching and making sure that everyone in his family is safe and happy.

Russell R. Goodwin
Rancho Mirage C.A.

The Welton Family entered my life when I was about 8 years old. My mom and Jim's father married, and we all moved in together. My sisters, Jim and myself. My brother Ed was in Vietnam. So Jim and I shared a bedroom. We got to be very close, He taught me how to drive a stick shift, play baseball, and do things that brothers generally do. Jim met Cindy and moved out with her so I'd visit them quiet often. This went on for many years, Jim and Cindy had their first son, Ryan, and Jim's life changed so much. He always found time for me even when my life was not in the best shape. He never turned his back on me. He was my big brother, I was always envious of the way he conducted his family life and some day I wanted to be just like him. He was an outstanding father, husband, brother, and friend. We bowled together, watched baseball games together, and flat out hungout. When my life finally got some what straightened out, I contributed through his influence. I'll miss him tremendously, He treated his nieces Aleysha and Julie just the way he treated his own sons. I might have lost a brother, but I gained a piece of mind, knowing that he knew I was going to be okay. I'm going to miss you.

-Richard, Aleysha, Julie, Joy and Glew.

I don’t want to think of Jim as gone! Even now, I expect him to come walking through the door. We had, in our few short years that we knew each other, shared some moments of both joy and sadness. His manner was to downplay himself, and elevate those around him. We spoke of our families at length, of friends both successful and those whom life had not blessed. Of our past victories on the golf course and our personal failures in life on very intimate levels. Some of our best communication did not need words. I don’t know how to express myself about Jim, since I’m not done talking to him. I hear his voice, I see his smile, and I feel his nearness even now. I don’t want to think of Jim as gone, he has merely walked through another door that one day I will open. And then we can continue our discussion.

Dennis

Dear Big Brother, Family & Friends.
I'm truly sorry to be writing this. It makes me very sad, and I was never very good with expressions or feelings. You were much better. Please be strong. We both left Louisville very young and went our ways. That seems to be what happens in this world. But we did have the same background and traits from Max and Rhoda. We share these wonderful memories. That's what I have for your Jim. Jim and I bonded very well. He did spend a short time with us as a teenager. He caught a large catfish and was hooked on fishing. Two years ago, we got to play golf together. It was a special day. You can learn a lot about a person playing a game. Honesty, respect, integrity, athleticism, character, competiveness. He had them all, and I'm sure these are passed on. He was a wonderful son, husband, father, employee and friend, I know. Again, be strong think of good things and times we had with him.

Love,
Little brother Gary and Marla

He was my favorite uncle and everything still hurts so badly, it’s hard for me to put my thoughts in order, but I will try.

I will say that he was always kind to me; he is one of the only people I know that I honestly do not have one bad memory of (maybe *the* only person). I can remember so many of our conversations and I loved just sitting there with him. Thinking and talking... He never said anything bad EVER about anybody I knew. Not anybody in his family or mine (and he easily could have!)...He always tried to see the good in people. I cant even list one person that my Uncle didn't like. I never saw him treat anybody with disrespect or talk crap about anybody. I assume he liked everyone....and everyone I know liked him. He was an amazing provider for his family. I loved seeing where he worked and I would ask God to give him special blessings for getting up so early for his family. I was also so happy he would let me stay at his house. I never felt nervous around him and was so grateful I got to share in everything his hard work provided. He (through Aunt Cindy) bought me food, clothes and even haircuts for part of my summer and it never seemed to annoy him. Having an extra kid around had to be tiring but he never made me feel out of place (he would even try extra hard to bring me out of my shell) and I never heard him complain about anything. Once he went to Mass with us and he knelt for so long I know he had to be in pain but he didn't even make a face.

He loved his family and I remember him telling me the story of the first night he brought Ryan home from the hospital. I remember his face as he told me. He loved his sons.and he took the responsibility of being a father seriously and he was good at it. ... I think he took being an uncle seriously also because I know that if I ever asked him for anything he would have done it. He always gave me good loving advice.......I love him and I miss him. I don’t know what else to say. I dream about him a lot and for some reason birds remind me of him. Everything I can say about him seems so cliché but with him, it’s all true. He was amazing and loving. He was always there for us; he was a good uncle and a good person. He was somebody to look up to and it physically hurts to miss him this much. I am proud to tell my kids stories about him and he will never be forgotten.

Theresa McManus
Jim's niece

(A love letter sent to Uncle Jim a few weeks before his passing.)
Sending this love letter to you for support and to let you know how much I love you and pray for you. I remember the day we went golfing for the first time and you taught me how to play. Do you remember the orange weird putter that I had to play with? It was weird but funny. I also remember you teaching me how to fish up at Big Bear. I was so excited. Mom even has that pictures of me holding that fish. Then the first time I learned how to swim was in your pool. So many things YOU taught me. And also you taught me how to bowl. I know I still suck, but you were the one who taught me. You didn’t teach me how to suck, I just suck. No uncle ever spent time with me to teach me stuff like you do. The most thoughtful thing you gave me was that awesome John Lennon t-shirt that I always wanted for so very long. I will have that forever. You’re my favorite uncle and I pray that you keep fighting every day.

Love You,
Eric.

Jimmy will be missed, but at least we know he is no longer in pain! One day we will see him again. On another note, I will always remember his smiling face! Whenever I called and asked how he was, Jim would always respond, with warmth in his voice that we will miss, "I AM BEAUTIFUL AND EXOTIC!" I am sure that he is an exotic and elegant angel in heaven keeping our Lord company! He always talked about how much he loved his family.

Patricia Steele
Pres.
L&R Pumpcrete Inc MBE WBE
"The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you"

Jim as I called him, one of my little brothers. Boy am I going to miss him. He was so quiet when he came to live with us when he was just a sophmore in high school. I, one year older than him took him under my wing and took him to parties and made him feel welcome and part of the family. It took some time, but eventually we were a complete family. I know that he was thankful that Mom and Dad met, I know I am. I spent so much time with his family, going to Big Bear when the kids were small. So many occasions both our families doing things together.

He spent so much time with my kids, teaching my youngest how to fish, bowl and golf. I can't thank him enough for stepping in and taking the time he did with both of my kids. They were like his own. My daughter he called Pingy, which is what his oldest Ryan named her, but from that time on, he called her Pingy. Whenever she needed anything he was there, flat tire, he'd drive out to where she was and fix it. He'd do anything for my kids. That who Jim was. Thoughtful, kind, a hard worker and a great golfer.

I know he's always going to be close by, watching over us and I will remember all the things he taught me. I will miss him to very much and I know I will see him again. I am so very proud to call him my little brother.

Diane Mader