John W Welte

Dr. John William Welte, 78, research scientist, birdwatcher, and bridge player He loved birds, bridge, statistics and talking politics. Beloved husband, father and colleague, John had a sense of humor that was dark but never bitter, and razor-sharp but never mean. He could remember the names of more film actors than youd ever heard of in the first place, and could recite poems hed learned in high school word-for-word until the last year of his life. He was a wonderful storyteller, relating favorite anecdotes with a twinkle in his eye. John saw more than 859 different species of birds over a life spent birdwatching. He meticulously recorded his sightings, writing his own computer software to do so well before commercial software came out to do the same. He could identify hundreds of birds by their songs alone. In college and graduate school, John played duplicate bridge competitively, coming in second in a national college team tournament, before setting the game aside to focus on family and career. In retirement, he started playing again, with his wife Martha as his partner. He recently attained the rank of Sapphire Life Master in the American Contract Bridge League. He was an internationally known research scientist studying alcohol, drug and gambling addictions. He had a long career at the University of Buffalos Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions, with over a hundred published peer-reviewed scientific works, many published with his colleague Grace Barnes. He was a talented grant writer who was proud to be able to win funding for scientific research; his last grant was for over $3 million dollars. He received his undergraduate degree from Carnegie Tech, (now Carnegie Mellon University), and his Ph.D. in psychology from SUNY University at Buffalo, where he met his wife Martha, playing bridge. He was always wearing a sweatshirt with a wolf, a bird, or a Shetland sheepdog on it. He greatly loved his wife, his children, his friends and colleagues at the Institute, and he greatly missed his rescue sheltie Simba, who died in 2019. He would point at Simba and just say I love that little sheepdog. He loved onion rings, ice cream, and licorice-flavored gummy bears. Hed eat a tangerine, and then a little bit of the tangerine peel just for the flavor, but woe upon anyone who tried to get him to eat a food he didnt like. He eventually developed a diet consisting almost entirely of homemade milkshakes, heavy on the chocolate sauce. After his physician recommended he consume more calories, he would start his fourth milkshake of the day with a grin and the words doctors orders. He and Martha were married for 49 years. They lived in the same house in Amherst, New York, for the last 44 years, raising their children David and Ruth there. David married Cynthia Durfee, and Ruth married Bharat Rangan. His granddaughter Anya Rangan brought great joy to his life. Though he had an incurable form of blood cancer (myelodysplastic syndrome) for the last few years of his life, he died unexpectedly after a fall, spending less than a night in the hospital, just as hed hoped. Nearly every day, he declared himself to be the luckiest man in the world, and then he would tell you why: He was born healthy in a free country, into a family that took good care of him. He had a great education and the luck to find a job that suited him perfectly. He married well and his children were born healthy. He had many years of good health. So much good luck. Relatives and friends may visit LOMBARDO FUNERAL HOME (Northtowns Chapel) 885 Niagara Falls Blvd., near Eggert, Amherst on Thursday from 4 PM 8 PM where a funeral service will be held on Friday at 10 AM. Interment Mt Calvary Cemetery. Online condolences at www.lombardofuneralhome.com