Bob Wellons

My Uncle Bob, Ralph Robert Wellons, was a great guy. He was a modern version of my grandfather Ralph, with a lot more flair. He loved to tell funny little stories and joke around. In fact, he was the only one who could keep up with his little sister in the race to be the life of a party.

Bob was the oldest of three children, but the only other child to reach adulthood was my mom, Mary Alice Wellons Dixon. He was born August 1, 1926 in Anderson, Indiana. They lived in the Hazelwood neighborhood and went to Hazelwood Elementary. They actually lived at the home of their Uncle Branson Wellons for several years. No, he didn’t adopt them. The whole family lived with him. And they weren’t poor at the time. My grandfather had a better job than his brother Branson. They were all probably chipping in to help their mom, and my grandmother’s mom, also. And Ralph and Bess were not the only relatives to move a whole family into Branson’s place.

Bob went to, and I think graduated from Anderson High School. Not long after, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving in the Pacific theatre aboard the USS Waldron.

I’m not sure what all he did for work after the war, but I distinctly remember our whole family driving over to the new Indiana 32 and looking over the White River at the graders and bulldozers preparing the runways of the new Anderson Airport. This would have been about 1960 or so. Mom said that her brother was driving one of those graders.

Uncle Bob married my Aunt Beverly in 194? She was Beverly Moore and it seemed as though she came from an influential family. Maybe that’s because her brother was the mayor of Elwood, Indiana when I was little. She was born on March 26, 1930 and died on September 19, 2017. Uncle Bob and Aunt Beverly had four kids: David, Robyn, Shelley and Jeff. I spent a lot of time with my cousins growing up. I was lucky to have the two girls as the closest to my age. Jay could hang more with David. Todd was in between Shelley and Jeff. They lived on Hattie Drive south of Anderson. It was suburbia, but more city-sized lots than our 3/4 acre lots out on Alexandria Pike.

Uncle Bob always called my mom “Sis”. Of course, he was the only one who could do that. But he really didn’t say “Mary Alice” that much like everyone else did. Mom said that they had piano lessons when they were kids and that my grandparents actually would have the two of them dance in a tavern to entertain the folks. I have no idea if she made that up. I do know that they both could play the organ right away when my grandfather bought one. However, Uncle Bob was on a whole other level when it came to proficiency on the organ. He was very good and I loved the way he would jazz up the tunes instead of just playing the score as written. He later had a bigger organ at their house and I loved to hear him play it. He donated his time and organ skills for many years to play at local nursing homes after he retired. Having worked at one in college, I know the residents would have loved it.

Uncle Bob liked his toys, too. I remember he was big into gas powered remote controlled airplanes and was a member of a flying club. Nothing is cooler than that. He was a big NASCAR fan and actually went to the races, taking his 5th wheel RV to camp in the infield or near the track.

He worked at Delco-Remy as a skilled tradesman and retired from there. After the kids were grown, he and Aunt Beverly moved in to a nice double-wide mobile home park. I went there with mom after Dad passed to pay a visit, and I remember he still had a good-sized shed in the driveway so he could have his tools and other stuff nearby.

My parents met with Uncle Bob and Aunt Beverly after we all grew up and they would go to dinner or have dinner at each other’s house and play cards. I think they also go together some with my grandfather and his lady Margie.

Uncle Bob had heart problems, seemingly for the last 15 or 20 years of his life. Things looked quite dire at times. I know that mom was worried that he wouldn’t make it for years. But he just kept soldiering on. They had a lot of heart problems in the family. Everybody smoked when they were young, except maybe Aunt Beverly. Eating habits were not good. Lots of meat and potatoes with a side of grease. Exercise wasn’t a thing back then like it is today. Still, he lived to age 85 and died on September 19, 2012