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W. Carolina honors TKE founder at Homecoming
Sun, Nov. 14, 2004
Alma mater honors grad posthumously
The Wellmon family was honored at a champagne brunch on the campus of Western Carolina University last month.That day, Oct. 23, was also homecoming day, and Brenda Wellmon and her children, Scott and Michelle, joined the school band and homecoming court at the middle of the football field during halftime.
The ceremonies were in honor of their late husband and father, Curtis Lee Wellmon. His alma mater honored Wellmon posthumously with its Distinguished Service Award.
Wellmon was a successful businessman in Charlotte. He owned and led General Bonded Warehouses here for 33 years. But he never forgot the western part of the state.
Wellmon grew up in the town of Rutherford College and went to Valdese High School. He went to college at Western Carolina, a few counties over. He graduated in 1958, then served two years in the Army's 101st Airborne Division.
He wanted teens in his hometown to have a shot at college, too. So he and his wife, Brenda, created the Curtis and Brenda Wellmon Scholarship in 1996. The academic award is for students in Burke County to attend Western.
"He's been a giver and a sharer," says his wife, Brenda Wellmon of Charlotte. "He always felt he had been blessed."
On campus, Wellmon was a founding member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity as a student and went back to serve several years on the university's foundation board. In Charlotte, he was a member of the chamber, the Speedway Club and the City Club and a charter member of the Tower Club and TPC at Piper Glen.
Wellmon died of cancer in July. Brenda Wellmon says her husband, known for his Southern gentleman rapport, would have been humbled by the attention.
She says he would have given his signature wink and thumbs up, proclaiming it a "fantastic day."
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