Roger Allen Welty
August 12, 1938 — January 1, 2024
Roger Allen Welty, 85, of Cedar Rapids went to his heavenly home on Monday, January 1, 2024. He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, a respected entrepreneur, and a believer in Christ. The family will host a memorial service at 2 p.m., Saturday, January 6, 2024, at Noelridge Christian Church (7111 C Avenue NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa) with his granddaughter Rev. Stasia Fine presiding. A visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 4 at Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home & Cremation Service at 520 Wilson Avenue SW, Cedar Rapids, an hour prior to the service at the church.
Roger was born on August 12, 1938, to Arthur and Leora (Price) Welty in Barberton, Ohio. He and his family moved to Coggon, Iowa when he was about five years old, and he attended school there until eighth grade. He then attended Bob Jones University for a year as a high school freshman. When he was a sophomore, his parents moved their heating and air business to Cedar Rapids where Roger graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1956.
After a year of study at Coe College, Roger served in the Air Force from 1957 to 1962 and was trained in electronics at Keesler Airforce Base in Biloxi, Mississippi for the maintenance of radar equipment. He was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Olathe, Kansas. He had an extended enlistment due to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
He met his wife, Millicent (Mimi) Eige, at Cedar Christian Church youth group and they eloped on March 14th, 1958. They married when Mimi was seventeen and Roger was nineteen, grew up together, and spent the next sixty-five years experiencing life together. This included raising two children and enjoying being grandparents and great-grandparents.
After military service, he came back to Cedar Rapids to work in the family business. He and his two siblings purchased the business from their parents and Roger served as CEO / President of Welty Way Products for the next sixteen years until the company was sold. During that time the focus of the business changed to the manufacture of metal processing machinery and became an international business. He invented the cleat roller machine, which has a patent on its design. In 1976, Roger was honored as the Iowa Small Businessman of the Year by President Gerald Ford when one businessman from each state was honored during the national bicentennial celebration in Washington D.C.. He was the team sponsor for the national champion Welty Way softball team. The team placed second in the world championship in Manila, Philippines.
Roger became a pilot for business purposes. He held single engine, twin engine, instrument, commercial, and rotor craft licenses. He especially enjoyed flying the last plane he owned, which was a Beechcraft Baron 58p. Some of Roger’s fondest memories are of flying Iowa basketball coach Lute Olsen on recruiting trips. He was a lifetime member of the U of I President’s Club.
Following the sale of Welty Way, Roger was an entrepreneur and a consultant and worked in a variety of industries. This included being a consultant for Micro-Technology, a medical computer company that was ahead of its time, salesman with several direct sales companies including World Wide Products, and employee for five-years at Connectronics in Cedar Rapids. During the farm crisis in the 1980s, Roger and Mimi moved to Kansas City for ten years, before returning to Cedar Rapids. Roger had many interests, including duplicate bridge, golfing, bowling, fishing, international travel and spending time with family. He became a Life Master at duplicate bridge and ran several duplicate bridge clubs. At one point he became a stockbroker and he passed the series 7 license the first time he took the test.
Roger had a heart for people and welcomed and cared for anyone he met. He gave everyone a chance and was willing to take risks to help others. Together he and Mimi offered hospitality in their home for others during their time of need. This included everyone from an employee’s teenage son, to a member of the softball team, to a law student, to a relative, to a hitchhiker that he picked up on the road. People were welcome to stay as long as they needed. This hospitality extended to caring for both of their mothers and their daughter-in-law at the end of life.
Roger was always curious about the mysteriousness of God and he and Mimi always found a home at a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). As youth, they attended Cedar Christian Church. When they lived in Kansas City, they were members at Countryside Christian Church, where Roger served as a deacon, and he and Mimi made many wonderful friends. When they returned to Cedar Rapids, they joined Noelridge Christian Church where Roger served on the building committee and as a trustee.
Roger is survived by his wife, Mimi; brother, Robert (Pat) Welty; brother-in-law, Roy Ford; children, Debby (David) Krivanek and Jeff (Barbara) Welty; grandchildren, Stasia (Scott) Fine, Sonya (Brad) Brown, Ryan Welty (Alexandra Duball), Brandon Welty (Cassidy Downs); and great-grandchildren, Lilly, Mia, and Charlotte Welty, Juliet and Ruby Brown, Dominic and Colby Wells (Fine).
Roger was preceded in death by his parents, Art and Leora; parents-in-law, Kenneth and Evelyn (Specht) Eige; siblings, Linda Ford and A.J. Welty; and daughter-in-law, Katherine Welty.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Noelridge Christian Church ( https://noelridgechristian.org/ ) or Cedar Rapids Parkinson's Association ( https://crmetroparkinsons.com/ )
Roger was born on August 12, 1938, to Arthur and Leora (Price) Welty in Barberton, Ohio. He and his family moved to Coggon, Iowa when he was about five years old, and he attended school there until eighth grade. He then attended Bob Jones University for a year as a high school freshman. When he was a sophomore, his parents moved their heating and air business to Cedar Rapids where Roger graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1956.
After a year of study at Coe College, Roger served in the Air Force from 1957 to 1962 and was trained in electronics at Keesler Airforce Base in Biloxi, Mississippi for the maintenance of radar equipment. He was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Olathe, Kansas. He had an extended enlistment due to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
He met his wife, Millicent (Mimi) Eige, at Cedar Christian Church youth group and they eloped on March 14th, 1958. They married when Mimi was seventeen and Roger was nineteen, grew up together, and spent the next sixty-five years experiencing life together. This included raising two children and enjoying being grandparents and great-grandparents.
After military service, he came back to Cedar Rapids to work in the family business. He and his two siblings purchased the business from their parents and Roger served as CEO / President of Welty Way Products for the next sixteen years until the company was sold. During that time the focus of the business changed to the manufacture of metal processing machinery and became an international business. He invented the cleat roller machine, which has a patent on its design. In 1976, Roger was honored as the Iowa Small Businessman of the Year by President Gerald Ford when one businessman from each state was honored during the national bicentennial celebration in Washington D.C.. He was the team sponsor for the national champion Welty Way softball team. The team placed second in the world championship in Manila, Philippines.
Roger became a pilot for business purposes. He held single engine, twin engine, instrument, commercial, and rotor craft licenses. He especially enjoyed flying the last plane he owned, which was a Beechcraft Baron 58p. Some of Roger’s fondest memories are of flying Iowa basketball coach Lute Olsen on recruiting trips. He was a lifetime member of the U of I President’s Club.
Following the sale of Welty Way, Roger was an entrepreneur and a consultant and worked in a variety of industries. This included being a consultant for Micro-Technology, a medical computer company that was ahead of its time, salesman with several direct sales companies including World Wide Products, and employee for five-years at Connectronics in Cedar Rapids. During the farm crisis in the 1980s, Roger and Mimi moved to Kansas City for ten years, before returning to Cedar Rapids. Roger had many interests, including duplicate bridge, golfing, bowling, fishing, international travel and spending time with family. He became a Life Master at duplicate bridge and ran several duplicate bridge clubs. At one point he became a stockbroker and he passed the series 7 license the first time he took the test.
Roger had a heart for people and welcomed and cared for anyone he met. He gave everyone a chance and was willing to take risks to help others. Together he and Mimi offered hospitality in their home for others during their time of need. This included everyone from an employee’s teenage son, to a member of the softball team, to a law student, to a relative, to a hitchhiker that he picked up on the road. People were welcome to stay as long as they needed. This hospitality extended to caring for both of their mothers and their daughter-in-law at the end of life.
Roger was always curious about the mysteriousness of God and he and Mimi always found a home at a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). As youth, they attended Cedar Christian Church. When they lived in Kansas City, they were members at Countryside Christian Church, where Roger served as a deacon, and he and Mimi made many wonderful friends. When they returned to Cedar Rapids, they joined Noelridge Christian Church where Roger served on the building committee and as a trustee.
Roger is survived by his wife, Mimi; brother, Robert (Pat) Welty; brother-in-law, Roy Ford; children, Debby (David) Krivanek and Jeff (Barbara) Welty; grandchildren, Stasia (Scott) Fine, Sonya (Brad) Brown, Ryan Welty (Alexandra Duball), Brandon Welty (Cassidy Downs); and great-grandchildren, Lilly, Mia, and Charlotte Welty, Juliet and Ruby Brown, Dominic and Colby Wells (Fine).
Roger was preceded in death by his parents, Art and Leora; parents-in-law, Kenneth and Evelyn (Specht) Eige; siblings, Linda Ford and A.J. Welty; and daughter-in-law, Katherine Welty.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Noelridge Christian Church ( https://noelridgechristian.org/ ) or Cedar Rapids Parkinson's Association ( https://crmetroparkinsons.com/ )
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