Lloyd Richard Welch, of La Cañada, passed away on December 28, 2023. Born September 28, 1927, in Detroit, Michigan, to Richard C. Welch and Helen Felt Welch, he served in the Navy from 1945 to 1948 and 1951 to 1952, earned a B.S. from University of Illinois (1952), and a Ph.D. in mathematics and physics from the California Institute of Technology (1958).
Welch worked at the Jet Propulsion Lab, the Institute for Defense Analysis, and as a professor at the USC Department of Electrical Engineering.
Due to his contributions to the field of communications and information theory, he was named an IEEE Fellow, elected to the National Academy of Engineering and was awarded the international Claude E. Shannon Award in 2003.
He was married to Irene Main (deceased) and had three daughters: Pamela Towery (Tim) (deceased), Melinda Welch (Jeffrey), Diana Worthington (Delwyn) and grandchildren, Jessica, Tristan, Erica (Scott), Richard (Aubrey), Danika (Alex), and great-granddaughter, Piper.
He was an esteemed mathematician and electrical engineer that was well-respected by his peers and the many Ph.D. students who studied with him. He was also a loving family man and will be greatly missed by his daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A memorial service celebrating his life will be held on February 3rd at La Cañada Presbyterian Church at 2 p.m.
