Ken W. Weldon

WELDON, MELVIN, HAZLITT, UTSLER

Posted By: Mary Welty Hart (email)
Date: 7/3/2006 at 20:19:56

Winterset Madisonian, Winterset, Iowa
September 27, 1989

KEN WELDON, Winterset

Services for Ken W. Weldon, 73, Winterset, who died Sept. 23, 1989 at his residence in Winterset, were held Tuesday, Sept. 26, at the First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Clarence Lautt officiating. Burial was at the Winterset Cemetery.

Born in Cainsville, Mo., on Feb. 29, 1916, he was the son of Clyde and Bessie Melvin Weldon. Mr. Weldon was a retired television sales executive, board member of the John Wayne Birthplace and a recipient of the Chamber of Commerce President's Award in 1983. In his early career, Mr. Weldon was a marketing officer with Republic Pictures at the time when John Wayne, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were the company's biggest film stars.

Weldon was heavily involved with the John Wayne Birthplace since its establishment in 1981. He helped raise funds for the Birthplace and enlisted the help of Hollywood celebrities to get the Birthplace started.

In 1984, when President Ronald Reagan visited Winterset, Weldon was one of only two local people allowed to escort the President inside the Birthplace for a guided tour. Weldon travelled to California in the early 1980s to interview the John Wayne family abut the Birthplace in Winterset. He was able to secure donations and other assistance from the John Wayne family for the Birthplace, and managed plans for the family to visit Winterset on several occasions.

He was married to Bibianne Hazlitt on June 23, 1940 in Bethany, Mo., and was a resident here for 42 years.

Survivors include his wife; sons, Michael of Cedar Rapids and Richard of Urbandale; a daughter, Michele Utsler of Winterset; and six grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers.