James C. Welsch Jr.
James C. Welsch Jr. of East Hampton and Huntington died at Huntington Hospital on Jan. 20 after a brief illness. He was 81.
Mr. Welsch was the president of Welsch Aviation, a Huntington private and corporate aircraft brokerage that his father founded in 1949. He led the company into the jet age and expanded it to include offices across the country. According to his family, it is the oldest active aircraft sales and acquisition organization in the world.
Mr. Welsch was born in Cincinnati on Oct. 12, 1935, to James Welsch Sr. and the former Effie Mae Bowser. His father was a pioneer of aviation, and the younger Mr. Welsch was just 3 months old when his parents took him for his maiden flight in an open-cockpit biplane. They moved to Great Neck when he was a child and he graduated from high school there before entering Hofstra University.
In 1958, after graduating from Hofstra, he was married to Gail A. Samuelson. He enlisted in the Army soon after their marriage, serving two years on active duty and two more with the Army Reserve, joining Welsch Aviation upon his discharge from active service. He and his wife lived first in Dix Hills and later settled in Huntington.
In 1976, they bought a house in Northwest Woods, not far from Sammy’s Beach, where they spent as much time as possible. The family enjoyed relaxing with good friends, hosting annual summer gatherings, and being near the water.
Mr. Welsch was passionate about work, the family wrote, and was often on the phone or drafting notes on business deals, but at the end of the day he liked to sit down for a “good drink on the deck, a few laughs, and a meal with the people he cared for dearly.”
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two daughters, Kristin Welsch of Amagansett and Leslie Welsch of Huntington, and by two grandchildren. The family has suggested memorial donations to Little Shelter Animal Rescue, P.O. Box 1805, Huntington 11743, or to the American Heart Association.