95-year-old Welton Hance continues to work fulltime & volunteer in community

By Carolyn Brady
Normally, after the initial introduction of someone in an article, we refer to that person by their last name only.
However, for 95-year-old Welton E. Hance, we are going to call him by his preferred title and forename, “Mr. Welton.”
Mr. Welton doesn’t consider himself to be much, but after a few minutes around him, one discovers that he is truly a very special person. He just lives his life, loves his wife, goes to work, volunteers, and generally helps others.
A typical trip to at Lowe’s in Foley where Mr. Welton has worked for the last eighteen years, will go something like this.
Suppose you have several items to pick up for various home projects. You spy Mr. Welton and ask him where to find one of the items. Mr. Welton will likely respond, “Let me see your list.” He will then proceed to lead you on an expedition to different departments to pick up each item on the list with no backtracking.
During the month of November, we remember our veterans, and our nation has set aside the eleventh as Veteran’s Day to honor the men and women who have served in The United States Armed Forces, and to thank them for their time sacrificed away from family.
Mr. Welton is one of those men in our community who stands out in the minds of many when they think about Veteran’s Day.
When he was nineteen-years-old, on December 10, 1941, just three days after the Japanese attacked The United States at Pearl Harbor, Mr. Welton signed up for military service.
“The war had just started. I was young, single, and healthy as were millions of others. I just became part of the group,’’ he said. “Nothing special.”
His actual enlistment was not finalized until December 17. “The ads enticed young men to join the Marines,” Mr. Welton said, “I had no idea what I was signing up for.
“The Marines promised travel and adventure and they kept their word. It was very intense. Not at all like the movies. You are not crying in a foxhole. It’s nothing like that. You are suddenly in circumstances. You are not thinking about being afraid. You aren’t planning anything, you are reacting to the circumstances. If someone is about to shoot you, you have to shoot first. You don’t have to train for that. I just did what they told me to do.”
He can tell you detail after detail about his time spent in places like Peleliu Island, where 40 percent of the 28,000 Marines and infantry troops who fought there died or were wounded.
He was in the battle for Guadalcanal. He can talk about the Amtrac landing craft (amphibious tractor) and Washing Machine Charlie’s nightly flights over the island to harass the troops and keep them awake.
As he talks about his experiences, sometimes he throws in some of his dry-quick humor.
He once captured an enemy solder. They were behind enemy lines and went into a village. The soldier was sitting with his rifle leaned nearby. When he saw Mr. Welton, he threw his hands up and surrendered.
“That is what happened, but I tell people that I wrestled with him for two hours and he finally surrendered,” Mr. Welton said.
He says soldiers could mail anything home at no cost. Once he wrote his little sister’s name and address on a coconut and she got it. He had mailed home some of his war souvenirs. Years later he gave them to the Pensacola War Museum.
Mr. Welton said that women first were allowed to join the Marines during his time of service. When he returned to the United States after his wartime service, he engaged the first woman Marine he saw in conversation. Her name was Phyllis and he married her.
“We were married at Camp Lejeune (North Carolina) and the camp bakery made us a cake. The only person not in uniform was the minister,” he said.
Mr. Welton was released from active duty at the end of the WWII but remained in the Marine Reserves. In 1950, Uncle Sam called again and requested that he return to active duty for the duration of the Korean conflict. He received his final discharge papers in 1953.
After their military time ended, the family moved to Cincinnati, where Mr. Welton went to school to learn how to work with glass.
After school, they moved to about ten miles outside of Sioux Falls, North Dakota and raised a family of four, three girls and a boy. He went to work blowing glass and serving the community in law enforcement and as city councilman. He says the councilman’s pay was $228 per year.
He worked there for 42 years until his wife became a semi-invalid. He said the winter weather made it difficult to get her to doctor’s appointments so they decided to consider changing to a better climate.
When Mr. Welton first arrived in South Baldwin county when he was five-years-old, moving to Magnolia Springs with his parents, grandparents, and three brothers.
His grandmother had Tuberculosis and three of the boys had symptoms of the beginnings of it. There was no medicine to treat it in those days and most people went to a Sanitarium for help. Mr. Welton’s dad quit his job and moved the family.
Mr. Welton remembered his days as a boy here and that the climate was good, so he moved his wife here. It was much better for a while he said.
After 62-years of marriage Phyllis passed away.
He continued to live here, work and help in the community. He let his beard grow and worked helping Santa out whenever he was needed.
“I was over at Ryan’s walking around talking to the kids. I got tired so I sat down to rest. That is where I met Wilma. She was there to pick up her son and we started talking. After about a week or so, I kept thinking about her. I found her son and gave him my phone number. I said, ‘See if she will call me.’ The rest is history. I am very blessed.
“I agreed when I married her it was for better or worse,’’ he added. “At the time I had no idea it was going to be so good. When I tell her that, I get a hug.”
Wilma and Mr. Welton have been happily married for ten years. He calls her, “Sweetheart,” and she calls him, “Darling.”
At 95, Mr. Welton has no plans to slow down or retire. He continues to work 40-hours a week at Lowe’s in Foley where they have provided him with his own reserved parking spot. He is often found near the area where keys are made.
He says he works in hardware because he is a nut and screws things up. Everything hangs on a hinge, but he usually nails it.
Wilma adds, “He never meets a stranger, and everybody is his friend. Everybody loves him. Living with him is an experience you can’t explain. You never know from one minute to the next what is going to come out of his mouth or what he is going to do.”
After work (Wilma is a cashier at Wal Mart), the couple goes home to start their second shift.
Mr. Welton continues making jewelry from mashed up colored bottles he forms into small sizes and shapes to make jewelry. Wilma works with her sewing projects.
Carl Smith, a fellow veteran, has known Mr. Welton for several years. “If anybody needs counseling, spend a few hours with him in his shop,’’ he said. “I am a better man for every hour I have spent with him.”
Pictured: Mr. Welton and Wilma, his wife; Mr. Welton helping Brandan Sellers find the items he needs at Lowe’s in Foley where Mr. Welton has worked 18 years; Vets Carl Smith (Seabee), Gen. Ben Pellegrini (Army), Mac Frey (Navy) & Bob Duke (Marines) showed up during a Veteran’s Day lunch sponsored by Tacky Jacks to honor Mr. Welton for his service to his country and his continuing service as a volunteer in the Pleasure Island community (Mr. Hance said he wanted a standing picture so people wouldn’t think he needed the wheel chair).