Ed Welbourn

Marshall Edward Welbourn, age 89, left this life to be with his Lord and Savior on the 22nd of February, 2015. Born on March 10, 1925 in Los Angeles to Marshall A. and Cora Mathis Welbourn, he attended Los Angeles city schools and graduated in 1943. Upon joining the United States Army in June of that year, he entered the Army Specialized Training Program and later enrolled in Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning, GA. He served as a replacement in Europe during World War II, participating in the Battle of the Bulge as well as post-war operations in Germany. He remained an active reservist until 1985, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel.

After leaving active duty in 1947, Ed entered the University of Southern California, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1951 and a master’s degree the following year. By then he had met his future wife, Julia Patricia Ann Stone, at Wilshire Baptist Church in Los Angeles. They were married on June 27, 1952.

Ed began his 37-year-long career with Shell Oil Company immediately thereafter and enjoyed the challenges of the petroleum industry in various locations in the western United States before moving to Houston in 1974. He worked his last ten years with Shell in its subsidiary Pecten International, where he had many opportunities to travel, testing and evaluating wildcat wells and developing onshore and offshore interests. Upon his retirement in 1989, he was employed by Greenhill Petroleum Corporation as a consulting production engineer in West Texas and New Mexico.

Ed participated in the Society of Petroleum Engineers, was active in the Republican Party, and served in various capacities for his local homeowners association, including ten years as its president. He was also an active member of BridgePoint Bible Church (previously Spring Branch Community), serving as an elder and deacon. He loved his many years of involvement in Bible Study Fellowship as a discussion leader. In his later years, Ed participated in various committees at the Eagle’s Trace retirement community, where he and Pat lived since 2004.

Ed and Pat were married for almost 63 years. They enjoyed traveling and visiting their children and grandchildren all over the world. They regularly traveled to, and especially enjoyed, Hawaii. The highlights of their travels were the two-week-long trips they took with each of their seven grandchildren to places of their choosing after they finished elementary school. These journeys took them to Africa, the Mediterranean, Western Europe, Canada, and Alaska—and were much coveted by their children who thought skipping a generation was incredibly unfair!

Ed loved to hunt and fish as a younger man, and at age 68 took up golf and immensely enjoyed playing with family and friends.

Preceded in death by his parents and younger brother, Howard M. Welbourn, Lt. Col., retired, of Louisville, KY, he is survived by his wife, Patricia; their daughter Valerie (Mark) Lefaive of Houston; their sons Eric (Debbie) Welbourn of Houston and Bruce (Ruth) Welbourn of Scottsdale, AZ; their grandchildren Brent, Andrew, and Erica Lefaive, Rebecca Welbourn, Jami (Joshua) Welbourn Dyer, and Brandon and Sally Welbourn; and their great-granddaughter Sadie Claire Dyer.

A graveside service with military honors will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, February 28, 2015 at Memorial Oaks Cemetery, 13001 Katy Freeway, Houston followed at 11:00 with a celebration of Ed’s life at BridgePoint Bible Church, 13277 Katy Freeway, Houston. In lieu of customary remembrances the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions be directed to BridgePoint Bible Church Missions Fund, 13277 Katy Freeway, Houston, TX 77079.