Welbaum was interested in a military career. So after graduating high school in 1966, he worked to get admitted to the Air Force Academy in Colorado.
“My family took a trip every summer and in 1964, we went out west and I saw the academy for the first time,” Welbaum said. “I was 15 years old and set my sights immediately on getting an appointment.”
That all important appointment was required to come from a congressional representative and Welbaum’s at the time was William McCullough. Welbaum met him and promised during his interview that he would “never quit.”
“I was looking for something that might be of use to me for a career in the Air Force,” Welbaum said. “My major was Latin American Studies.”
Welbaum’s eyesight prevented him from pursuing a career as a pilot. But he still longed to be close to airplanes, so he signed up for aircraft maintenance. He attended technical school for training and his first two tours of duty were as a flightline maintenance officer. He returned to Ohio and Wright Patterson Air Force Base to attend the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) to get his master’s degree in logistics management.
“My first assignment in my new career field was inside the General Electric plant in Evendale,” Welbaum said. “I then moved to the program office at WPAFB.”
Welbaum was stationed in Anaheim, Calif. for a few years, where he developed an interest in Disney collectibles. He had a Disneyland annual pass and spent a lot of his free time there.
“I have always had an interest in Disney,” Welbaum said. “My first memory of watching television was when my mom got me interested in the Davy Crockett in1955.”
In 1986, Welbaum moved back to the Dayton area and into his home in Beavercreek, which he had rented while he was in California. A technician came to repair his water softener and spotted his Disney memorabilia.
“He put me in contact with Tom Tumbusch, who was starting a publishing business,” Welbaum said. “Since I was in fourth grade, people have been telling me I was a good writer.”
Tumbusch’s company — Tomart Publications — was growing and he asked Welbaum to join him. They published magazines about Disney collecting as well as price guides. After Welbaum retired from the Air Force in 1990, he started working for Tumbusch and earning royalties.
“The main reason Tom hired me was to have me help a Disney animator named Bill Justice write his biography,” Welbaum said.
After 18 months of earning royalties on two books, Tumbusch took Welbaum on as a contractor. Then in 2000, the business began to dry up.
“It was like suddenly, people stopped buying price guides and everything started going downhill.” Welbaum said.
In 1992, Welbaum moved to Washington Twp. to be close to his best friend and help raise her children. As a self-proclaimed history nerd, he loved chaperoning kids on trips to Europe and to historical sites. He decided then that he wanted to teach social studies.
“I received my teaching license from the University of Dayton but couldn’t seem to get hired,” Welbaum said. “I became a professional substitute teacher.”
Welbaum was also writing children’s books, two of which he self-published. One of these — “The Cactus Who Wanted to Be a Christmas Tree”— was inspired by a visit to his mother in Virginia, where she was residing in an assisted living facility.
While living in California, Welbaum began running.
“I joined a support group and discovered I wasn’t enjoying life as much as I should,” Welbaum said. “I discovered running as an outlet.”
After spotting a few of Welbaum’s social media posts about running, his former college classmates asked him to join them for a relay at Mount Hood in Oregon.
“We were all 70 years old when we did the relay,” Welbaum said. “This was the genesis for my latest book — ‘No Limits — Traveling the World One Mile At a Time.’”
Describing the book as “a little about me, a little about running but mostly about the places I’ve seen,” Welbaum started writing it in 2018 after he returned from Oregon. Today, he has 17 half marathons and 28 full marathons under his belt and has written several books with no intention of slowing down anytime soon.
“I’m still teaching, but I am very selective about that and am still interested in Disney collecting as well as the running,” Welbaum said. “I have participated in half-marathons on three continents now and there are plenty places I still want to see.”
PERSONAL JOURNEY
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