Mr. COP

Bill and Barbara Weldon went on more than 40 cruises during their 54 year marriage. And on most of those cruises, Bill Weldon would bring a gift from the place he called home — Chelsea, Alabama.

He’d bring city of Chelsea pins to pass along to the friends they made on cruises or to the individuals working the cruise ship.

“They’d put the pins on right away,” said Barbara Weldon, Bill Weldon’s wife of 54 years, regarding the ship’s staff. “I think they liked getting something from a guest.”

Passing out those pins was one of the ways Bill Weldon showed how much he loved the city of Chelsea — the place he grew up, the place they raised their children and the place where he gave back until his death in September.

“He liked people, being around people, talking and learning from them. … He had a strong sense of community, to do whatever he could for anyone who needed help,” Barbara Weldon said of her late husband. 

Bill Weldon’s family moved to Chelsea when he was 12 and was still living there when he met Barbara. After they got married, they moved to the Southside of Birmingham, but they returned to Chelsea in 1965 to be closer to work. At the time, there were only 200 residents, Barbara Weldon said, and they got to watch the city grow to around 12,000 residents.

“Things have evolved little by little through the years, and a lot of the woods and pastures have become subdivisions now. It’s really growing, and it’s changing, but I still can’t imagine living anywhere else, and he couldn’t either,” Barbara Weldon said.

After Weldon’s death at age 75, Chelsea residents celebrated him and his dedication to the community. He was honored by Chelsea Fire and Rescue and the Chelsea Citizens Observer Patrol, two service organizations with which he was involved. 

His impact on both groups, members said, is something that continues to be felt.

“He always was the voice of wisdom, the voice of whatever was best to serve the community,” said Chelsea Fire and Rescue Chief Wayne Shirley, who knew Bill Weldon from the time the city’s volunteer fire department was established in 1977. 

Weldon helped form the volunteer fire department, and from day one was “always helping teach the lesson of what community service is about,” Shirley said.

“He was a true example of a servant’s heart,” Shirley said. “That has really instilled core values in anything we do in the fire department to this day.”

His love and trust of the fire department even extended to signing on as a guarantor for a loan so that the department could purchase its first fire truck. While Barbara Weldon said she had forgotten that her husband signed on to help the department get the truck, she’s not surprised, as “he would’ve done whatever he could” to help.

“It was a good decision on his part,”Barbara Weldon said. 

The city took over the fire department in 2000, and around that same time Bill Weldon started to transition out of the fire service, Shirley said. Just because he was out of the fire service, however, didn’t mean he was done serving. A few years earlier, the Chelsea Citizens Observer Patrol was established, and Bill Weldon found a new way to give back.

“When they came along, and he saw an opportunity where he couldn’t physically still fight fires anymore … he continued to serve and found a way to fit in,” Shirley said. “And that’s just a testament to the way he always looked for a way to contribute.”

The Chelsea COPs were established in 1998, and in 2004, Bill Weldon had made a national name for himself. He was named the National COP Volunteer of the Year and recognized at a conference in California.

“He did not know he had been selected,” said Jay Jerman, a founding member of the COPs, regarding the award. A group went to California for the national convention, and as the Volunteer of the Year was announced, a video was played featuring statements from former Mayor Earl Niven and former Gov. Bob Riley. 

Weldon was known as “Mr. COP,” Jerman said. With 5,280 hours, he had the most of hours of any of the organization’s volunteers. 

“I think he set a standard of volunteerism and commitment,” Jerman said.

And despite “a whole slew” of ribbons and pins adorning his COP uniform, and dozens of plaques recognizing his dedication to volunteering, Jerman said that was never Bill Weldon’s focus. He just wanted to give back.

“He was just a good guy I was proud to call my friend,” Jerman said. “He was always thinking of you, too.”

If Bill Weldon was able to hear the stories that were told at the funeral and remembrance services following his death, Barbara Weldon said he would have been honored to hear the impact he had. While he was honored during his lifetime as well, she said it has been wonderful to hear how he influenced the communityaround him.

And to Shirley, Chelsea owes a lot to the legacy of Bill Weldon.

“Without Bill’s influence on our community through both of these programs [COPs and the fire department] and his other ways of always supporting Chelsea, I don’t know if Chelsea would have been able to come as far as it has in such a short time,” Shirley said.