Eugene Lee Wellman

EUGENE LEE WELLMAN, 85, of Huntington, W.Va., reunited with his beloved wife of 64 years, Betty, in Heaven after passing away Sunday, January 20th, 2013, at St. Mary's Medical Center. Funeral services will be conducted at 1 p.m. Wednesday, January 23rd, at First Baptist Church in Ceredo by the Rev. Cleo Watson. Burial will follow in White Chapel Memorial Gardens. Gene is survived by his daughter, Linda (Gene) Smith of Huntington; two sons, David Wellman of Huntington and Chuck (Lori) Wellman of Milton; two sisters, Phyllis Pierce of Huntington and Delores Nichols of Bristol, Connecticut; and one brother, Joe Freeman of Franklin Furnace, Ohio.; three granddaughters, Kacey (Ben) Johnson of Wayne, and Jordan Hancock and Kara Hancock of Milton; three grandsons, Nick Wellman and Drew Wellman of Ceredo, and Dylan Wellman of Milton; one great-granddaughter, Emma Grace Wellman of Ceredo; and two great-grandsons, Lincoln Johnson and Maximus Johnson of Wayne. Gene was born November 19th, 1927, and raised in the Big Hurricane area before moving to Huntington as a teenager. He loved writing songs, a hobby he maintained from his teenage years to his final days on this earth. He was a kind man who loved his family and his church, and was rarely seen without a smile on his face. On the dreariest of days Gene could often be heard singing, 'It's such a pretty world today, look at the sunshine.' He wrote more than 1,000 songs over the decades, including 'The Little White Church,' 'Holy Life Insurance,' 'Fried Potatoes,' 'Please Throw Away the Glass,' and 'Big Blue Eyes,' to name a few. He was so proud of those tunes, and his family was so proud of him for writing them. Gene was a devout Christian, faithfully serving at Tucker Memorial Baptist Church in Huntington and at First Baptist Church in Ceredo of which he was a member when he passed away. He worked many years and many long hours delivering bread throughout the region for Heiner's Bakery. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to service time on Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Ceredo. Reger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Condolences may be made to the family at www.regerfh.com.