Lasting Memories

William (Bill) E Weseloh
Oct. 11, 1932-May 1, 2017
Menlo Park, CA
Submitted by Michael Weseloh

William E. Weseloh

October 11, 1932 - May 1, 2017

William E. Weseloh (Bill) was born on October 11th 1932 in San Diego, California to Joseph and Dorothy Weseloh and raised in Escondido. He was the second of four children; his brothers Joe, Dick and Dave have all preceded him in death. Blessed with a large extended family living in southern California, Bill had the good fortune of being able to visit them many times and develop fond memories of the family ranch in Ramona, California.

One of the defining characteristics of Bill was his love of Dixieland music, especially a good trombone solo. This love started young with him, back in 4th grade when he picked up his first trombone and hadn’t put it down since. Bill often attributed his love of Dixieland music to his first band leader (director) Evan N. Williams.

A story that encapsulates Bill’s love of trombone comes right before he headed off to Santa Clara University. One weekend his parents were leaving town for a couple days. Prior to leaving they turned to Bill and said “You are NOT to buy a new trombone” and then they headed out. Minutes after they left, Bill hoped into his car and was on his way to San Diego to buy himself that new trombone to play in the University of Santa Clara Band and the Red Hat Band.

As a member of the Santa Clara Class of 1954, he met a group of special friends at the university that he remained close to through all these years. Bill met the love of his life and future wife, Jeanne Kernan at a Santa Clara/Notre Dame dance. There he was playing his trombone in the band: the Santa Clara band. Bill and Jeanne were married in 1955 in The Church of the Nativity and enjoyed almost 62 years of marriage together. He loved to brag about Jeanne’s floral, gardening and decorating talents. They bought their family home in Menlo Park in 1964 and have not moved since! Deeply religious and forever faithful they have been members of St. Raymond’s Church for 50+ years.

In his professional life, Bill was in the Army for two years (179th Army Band); and then worked for A.C. Nielsen Company (TV ratings) before starting a 52-year career in real estate. First working for Joe Beh, and then for Spinelli and Company, he eventually started Weseloh and Young Real Estate in 1977 and never closed those doors.

Weseloh and Young doubled as his downtown social life, as a meeting place for co-workers, friends and family to stop by for visits and to get lunch at his regular local spots. You could often find him perusing the classifieds, searching for cars. When he found a good deal, he would ask around to see if he could find any takers. He had a weakness for classic cars, and early in his life owned 19 Chevys in a row!

Bill and Jeanne have deep connections to Menlo Park. He spent years on the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce and the Menlo Park Historical Society. The most recent project that he worked on focused on the rebuilding of the original 'Menlo Gate.'

The Weseloh home-away-from-home is 'the beach house' in Aptos. Bill loved spending time there with his family and friends and delighted in having many gatherings and celebrations there. He also enjoyed the families annual summer trips to Tahoe. A native Californian, he had never been to Tahoe until 1980. After that visit, he and Jeanne never missed a year, and always looked forward to spending time with the groups at Tahoe Cedars and in the Kings Beach area.

Always up for a game of dominoes, you were lucky if you got to be Bill's partner because you were bound to win! The one thing that you had to know when playing a game of dominoes was that it would inevitably be interrupted so Bill could make a batch of his famous Mai Tais, to serve the crowd. We gathered around Bill on his final evening and toasted him with a mighty fine batch of Mai Tais, just the way he made it. The Mai Tai tradition is sure to continue at future family gatherings.

Bill was so proud of his family and took every opportunity to enthusiastically tell of their most recent exploits or events in their lives. He lives on in his five children, their spouses, and twelve grandchildren: Chris (Joni), their sons Zach, Sam, and CJ; Patty (Steve) Mayer, their children Dylan, Kenzie and Nicola; Tom (Jamye), their daughters Rachael and Rebecca; Mary (Steve) Whitfield, their children Molly and Luke; and Michael (Jayme), and their sons Alex and Drew.

Extremely generous and ever so ethical, Bill, 'the man, the myth and the legend' will always be cherished, loved and greatly missed.

Here's to you, Bill, good people are scarce!

Friends are invited to services, which will be held on Monday, May 8, at 10:30 a.m. at St Raymond Church, 1100 Santa Cruz Ave., Menlo Park.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The St. Francis Center, 151 Buckingham Ave., Redwood City, CA 94063 or to a cancer organization of your choice.