William J. "Bill" Welch

WELCH, William J "Bill" 83, passed peacefully Wednesday, January 30, 2019, at Heritage Park in Fort Wayne. Born in Springfield, OH, he worked at International Harvester for 42 years, retiring in 1995. Preceded in death are his first wife, Phyllis “Joan” Welch, brother, Raymond "Cork" Welch, and great-grand son Daniel Gavin Long. Survivors include wife, Peggy, of Fort Wayne; daughters, Deborah J. (Tom) Klimkofski of Fort Wayne, Becky J. (Bruce) Piekarski of Stevensville, MI, and Sharon K. McKenna of Fort Wayne; step-children, Kim Campbell and Charlie Bowles of Fort Wayne, granddaughters, Jennifer (Keith) Long, Krista (Bruce) Patterson, Tricia (Al) McKenna, Stephanie (Robert) Waikel all of Fort Wayne, Melissa McKenna of Cincinnati, OH, Amanda Piekarski of Tampa, FL, and Mallory (Chad) Rabinowitz of Gig Harbor, WA; grandson, David (Jennifer) Watson of Columbia City; step-grandchildren; Gary Wayne Friedrich, Nicholas Friedrich, Zachary Friedrich, and Mackenzie Campbell; great-grandchildren; Breanna, Lilly, Meshell, Suri, Mikayla, Maxim, Mila, Broghan, Amira, Jacob, and Liam all of Fort Wayne; sister, Candace (Richard) Blakely of Urbana, OH, and a host of nieces and nephews. Service is 11 a.m. on Tuesday, February 5, 2019, at D.O. McComb & Sons Maplewood Park Funeral Home, 4017 Maplecrest Road, with calling one hour prior. Calling from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, February 4, 2019, at the funeral home. Burial in Concordia Cemetery Gardens.