Reed Welch

Friends and family will meet to Celebrate the Life of Reed Noble Welch Saturday, March 26 at 11 a.m. at the Cookeville Chapel of Hooper Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home. Pastor David Corley will officiate. Interment with military honors will follow at Cookeville City Cemetery. Cookeville Masonic Lodge #266 F&AM will conduct a Masonic Memorial Service Friday at 7 p.m. at the funeral home. The family will receive friends Friday from 5 - 8 p.m. and again Saturday from 10 a.m. until service time at the funeral home. Reed passed away peacefully at his home Monday evening, March 21, 2016 after an extended illness. Born October 9, 1924 in Putnam County, TN to the late Alfred W. and Ella Roberson Welch of Sand Springs, Reed was 91 years old. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his grandson, Ryan Huddleston; sister Wanda Fleenor; three brothers, Willard, Clinton, and Lee (Sam) Welch, his brother James L. "Doc" Welch died Tuesday morning March 22, 2106. A Veteran of WWII, Reed served in the U.S. Army from March 1943 to December 1945. He served in the Pacific Theatre in Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines and was awarded a WWII Victory Ribbon, AP Theater Ribbon, two Bronze Service Stars, Philippine Liberation Ribbon and one Bronze Bill CO 23. Reed went to Los Angeles on a GI Bill and studied Aeronautical Engineering and worked in the machining industry with a company who developed the first Jet Engine. He developed S & S Screw Machine Company in California and brought it back home to Putnam County in 1979 and later moved it to Sparta, Tennessee. Then in 1988, he built Southern Hills Golf Course. Both companies continue to operate successfully and jointly employ over 100 hundred people in the Upper Cumberland. He was a 50-year member of Cookeville Masonic Lodge #266 F&AM and a Shriner. Reed enjoyed working, helping others to get ahead, golfing and loved growing gardens. Survivors include his wife, Rachel (Rusty) Welch (whom he married June 23, 2001 in Cookeville); son and daughter-in-law, Jerald and Terri Welch of Cookeville; daughter, Barbara Huddleston of Greenbrier, TN; five grandchildren, Carrie (Billy) Whitaker, Michael (Felicia) Huddleston, Nick Huddleston, Amber (Kris) Whitson, and Sara (Chis) Denton; nine great-grandchildren; sisters, Emogene Garrett of Centerville, OH, Pauline Poteet of Gainesboro, and Anna Ruth Burroughs of Cookeville. The Veterans Honor Guard will serve as pallbearers.