Obituary of Charles Mayo Welch

Charles Mayo “Chuck” Welch (October 12, 1957 - June 16, 2025) Son of John S. and Unita W. Welch     Chuck (as he was always called) was born shortly after his family had moved from Whittier to La Cañada. His mother went back to Whittier so Dr. Mayo Smith could deliver this baby. Chuck was given Mayo as his middle name, because of the great esteem in which his parents held Mayo Smith. Chuck was also given Charles as his first name, again in honor of Charles Choate, the bishop who was a very influential spiritual leader in the family's Whittier ward in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While he always went by his nickname, not Charles, he received a great legacy with all his given names.   Chuck grew up in La Cañada and lived his whole life in La Cañada and La Crescenta. He attended elementary school, junior high, and high school in La Cañada. His childhood and teenage years had a lot of phases, as have most boys, and whatever he was interested in at any given time, he pursued it with unrelenting passion, whether it was experimenting with a chemistry set or making drawings worthy of Salvador Dali or Edvard Munch. Chuck was immensely creative!   Like all of his four siblings, Chuck took piano lessons. While he did well at the keyboard, when he was about 11 or 12, he discovered rock music. He played the drums with wild abandon, but it was the guitar (both acoustic and electric) that seemed to speak to him like nothing else on earth. He formed a number of bands and practiced various riffs endlessly. Chuck put many thousands of hours into playing his guitars, writing and recording his own songs, and looking for places to perform with whatever band he was with at the time. He was always hopeful of hitting the big time circuit. One of his greatest triumphs was playing a gig at The Troubador, a club in Hollywood.   As a teenager, Chuck also got into motorcycles and dirt bikes. So they could have time together, his dad also picked up a dirt bike and they made regular trips into the Mojave desert to ride the trails and motocross tracks there.   While Chuck didn’t care much for formal education, he worked for more than 35 years dispatching trucks at rock and gravel plants in Irwindale and Sunland, commuting in his pickup trucks from his home in La Crescenta for the graveyard shift for many of those years. Through it all, he never gave up his dream of being able to perform his music more widely and to be recognized for what he had worked toward so tirelessly.   For the last 20 years of his life his partner was Cathy Severns, a friend he had known since high school. Together they enjoyed a quiet life, cooking and gardening, and of course listening to music.   Chuck always marched to the beat of his own drum—quite literally. According to Google, ’To march to the beat of your own drum’ means to live your life according to your own values, beliefs, and preferences, rather than conforming to societal expectations or following the crowd. It emphasizes individuality, self-expression, and the courage to pursue one's unique path.” This describes Chuck about as well as anything, and he can be proud of his many accomplishments.   Chuck was preceded in death by his parents, John and Unita Welch, and his sister Ann Welch Pearson. He is survived by his dear Cathy, by his two brothers Jack Welch (Jeannie), Jim Welch (Deanne), his sister Barbara (Lew Cramer), and brother-in-law Don Pearson (Christine), and 18 nieces and nephews. All will miss having Chuck in our midst, but we look forward to a happy and grateful reunion on the other side! Link to slide show of pictures of Chuck’s life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu13ty2v8os