John Thomas Welch

John Thomas Welch (John Tommy), age 69 of Lewis Center, Ohio, died April 3rd, 2023. He was born November 25th, 1953, to John (Jack) Welch and Emma (BeeGee) Welch, in Columbus Ohio. In his younger years John was an avid 9 ball billiards player. He loved fishing and boating and spent many happy years enjoying Lake Erie. He was hard working, amazing father and great friend to all. He was survived by his love/partner in life Ann Cavanaugh- Gerber (Alfie his pup). Special friend Vicki Margerum. Daughters; Jessie Welch and Amy Hedges. Step daughter Jennifer (Kurt) Scheiderer, Stepson Benjamin (Caroline) NgDung. Beloved sister Joan Brelsford (David Doman). Grandchildren; Faith Wallace, Samantha Hedges and Justice Hedges. 3 Great Grandchildren. Many cousins and very special friends. He was preceded in death by his parents Jack and BeeGee. John requested to be cremated and didn’t want a funeral. There will be a memorial service to celebrate John’s life at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in John’s name to the (BIRT-HOGG-DUBÉ foundation) BHDFoundation (https://bhdsyndrome.org). A note from the family: For those of you who knew my dad, you know that he didn’t ever want anyone to worry. However, we wanted to let you know that he had a really rough time the past 4 months but he tried really hard to make the best of it. On January 2nd, 2023 my dad John was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic small cell lung cancer that spread to his brain. He didn’t want to tell anyone until it was under control and he was done with chemotherapy. We want to thank everyone that did know that he wasn’t well for all the prayers and kind words that you gave for my dad, myself and my family. We also wanted to let you all know that even though my dad was kicking cancers butt he unfortunately got a gastrointestinal infection his body couldn’t get rid of and he went septic. He passed away with me (his daughter Jessie) and his love Ann, (my stepmom) by his side on April 3rd at 6:10pm. We are just really glad to see him not in pain anymore and fighting such a hard fight. But we miss him so much, he was literally my best friend. Ann has been such a big help in taking care of him and I can’t imagine how she has been so strong through all of it. She def has been my rock and some of the best support either of us could have. We will not be having a service, as dad expressed that he didn’t want one, we will be having a memorial for him at the lake to remember good times and memories later on this spring. We choose to remember him, big, tall, strong, kind, happy and fishing.

John Thomas Welch

November 25, 1953 - April 3, 2023