Joseph F. Welsh Jr., a retired official of the Baltimore office of investment bankers Merrill Lynch and a World War II veteran, died of pneumonia Monday at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 84 and had lived in the Pinehurst/Cedarcroft neighborhood for many years.
The Northeast Baltimore native attended Shrine of the Little Flower Parochial School and won a scholarship to Mount St. Joseph High School. At 16, he left school to support his three younger brothers after the death of their mother. He became a shipfitter's apprentice at a Bethlehem Steel yard in Curtis Bay.
At 18, he enlisted in the Army and was sent to France in late 1944.
"My father had excellent vision and became a scout and spotter for enemy aircraft during the Battle of the Bulge. He would be out on his own toward the enemy lines," said a son, Mark N. Welsh of Bel Air. "He saw combat in some of the heaviest fighting of the war as a member of Company B, 320th Infantry, 35th Division."
He left military service in 1946 as a corporal and took a clerk's job for Frank B. Cohn, a Baltimore stockbroker whose business was soon purchased by what was then called Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Beane. Mr. Welsh remained with Merrill Lynch, took night school courses and became a broker in the early 1950s. While on the job, he met a secretary, Jeanne Tribull, who became his wife.
"Because of his personality - he would often say, 'I gotta tell ya' - he became the firm's top salesman in Baltimore for many years," his son said.
In 1969, he became sales manager for the Baltimore offices of Merrill Lynch.
"He taught, encouraged, praised, advised and fostered scores of brokers who came through Merrill Lynch in Baltimore," said his son. "When local television stations wanted a reaction to the big financial news of the day, he was the man they interviewed."
Mr. Welsh retired in 1992 after working at Merrill Lynch for nearly 47 years. He was a vice president.
He lived in Pinehurst/Cedarcroft for 50 years. The city-county line ran through his property - and he paid two tax bills.
"At a Sunday dinner, we would joke who was going to sit in the city and who would sit in the county," his son said.
He recently moved to the Edenwald retirement community in Towson.
An avid sports fan, he held five pair of Colts' season tickets in the old Memorial Stadium from 1957 to 1981. He was also present, with his family, at the Charles Street parade that welcomed the returning Orioles to Baltimore in 1954.
He was a past president of the Maryvale Preparatory School board. He was a member of the Maryland Wine and Food Society. He also belonged to the Bond Club, the Merchants and Center clubs, and the Country Club of Maryland.
A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, 5300 N. Charles St., where he was an usher.
In addition to his son, survivors include his wife of 61 years; another son, Dr. J. Douglas Welsh of Princeton, N.J.; a daughter, Lori W. Martinet of Timonium; a brother, William F. Welsh of Cincinnati; and eight grandchildren.
