Sharing Some Sad News Today
Posted by learntobead on May 5, 2009
5/6/2009
Arrangements have been made for Connie.
Visitation will be Friday, 5/8, between 4pm and 7pm at
Woodlawn Cemetary, 660 Thompson Lane, Nashville, 37204
615/383-2257
If you would like to make a memorial donation, please do so to The Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, 3777 Nolensville Rd, Nashville, TN 37211, 615/833-1534
Connie Welch
– Warren
Tuesday, 5/5/2009
Sharing Some Sad News Today
It was only yesterday morning, Connie Welch and I were chatting about our very successful and exciting workshops over this past weekend with Laura McCabe. We had all been together with our closest friends and bead-mates, and had met several more we immediately included with our group.
Connie was very excited about the workshops. She loved the projects. They were fun, challenging and appealing. She learned many new things. She couldn’t wait to ask Laura to come back to Nashville again. Connie and I remarked how the workshop reflected the results of so many years she, I and others had spent creating and developing and fostering and participating in The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts — the name we gave our educational program at Be Dazzled Beads.
Connie was instrumental in bringing a professional bent to beadwork in Nashville. She played very key roles in helping James and I grow our business and raise all our dogs, especially Rosie.
So you can imagine how shocked and saddened James and I were to learn that Connie passed away later during the day.
We miss her deeply, and our thoughts go out to Jim, her husband.
Connie was part of our original advisory groups which researched beading education around the world, distilled this information into sets of critical ideas, and then wove these ideas into our educational program at CBJA and Be Dazzled Beads. The first things Connie worked on were identifying critical bead-weaving skills, like managing thread tension. She worked with the group to developmentally order these skills, and then link them to specific courses. But her proudest moment and claim to fame was her development of our Advanced Bead Studies program. Connie took the leadership role in organizing these Bead Studies over the past 9 years.
Connie had shopped in our stores since our beginnings. She took it upon herself to make sure that we were always in the know about major things happening in the bead world. She was our “deputized” market researcher. She followed bead trends, bead magazines, bead websites and bead artists. She brought her knowledge of color and graphics to the fore. She made us aware of the local bead scene in Nashville, the major players, the stores, the groups and opportunities.
And Connie made sure that all our store dogs — Rosie, Dottie, Stormy, Lily and Daisy — were treated like royalty. Connie loved all our dogs, but had a special place in her heart for Rosie. And Rosie had a special series of sounds to announce each time that Connie was arriving at our store’s front door.
Connie loved to bead. She loved beads, beaders and anything beading related. She’s been so much a part of our store for so many, many years, that I know many of you have your own personal Connie stories.
Connie will always be with us in spirit. We’re much better beaders and much better people because of her.
No arrangements have been made yet, but Connie will probably be cremated. The final decisions will be made tomorrow when all her family members are together. Vera wrote me that Connie died at home of what was probably a heart attack. She didn’t suffer, it was sudden.
I’ll post information about arrangements on our blog, as soon as I get it, perhaps as early as tomorrow:
blog.landofodds.com
Warren
warren@landofodds.com
615/292-0610
Learn To Bead 
tuesday said
Warren,
I signed up for your Yahoo! group, beadschool, months ago, but since I am in California, I can’t take advantage of much of what the group offers. To tell you the truth, I mostly ignore mail from you; it is frustrating that I can’t attend your workshops or classes, and reading about you and what you’re doing makes me homesick for my North Carolina roots. I should probably unsubscribe, but it’s just as easy to do that later…which brings me to the point of this note.
Today, when I saw e-mail from beadschool, I read it. I am sorry for your loss of your friend Connie. She sounds like a beautiful, interesting and generous woman, and it is clear that she was loved. I wish her Godspeed, and offer my condolences and best wishes to her family, who will surely miss her, and also to her friends, who loved her, too.
Your memories of Connie are beautiful and sweet, and your love for your friendship with her, strong enough to stretch all the way to this stranger to you both in far-away California, has touched me deeply. I feel almost as if I know you both, and I wanted to thank you for sharing her with me. We should all be so blessed with such friends.
She was lucky to have you, too.
I hope you wont mind if I stay subscribed to beadschool for a few more months. Clearly, there is more to you than class schedules.
Best,
Lyle T.
learntobead said
Lyle,
Thank you for your kind words.
I read your note and started welling up with tears again.
Beading, in many ways, is all about relationships. So many deep friendships have been made here.
Warren