Junior Welton Cronic

Retired USAF Staff Sergeant. Junior Welton Cronic, born March 4, 1930, was called to service in Heaven on May 28, 2019. Welton is finally at peace, being reunited with his twin brother and best friend Felton. They were together almost their entire lives, except when Felton re-enlisted from 1968 - 1970. He was 15 minutes younger than his twin brother Felton. He was preceded in death by parents, Grady and Gertrude Cronic; brother, Horace Cronic; twin brother, Felton; sister, Louise Cronic Grosh and her husband Henry. He is survived by nephew Jonathan Grosh and his wife Tamra, who was his loving and compassionate caregiver since January of 2017; nieces, Esther Grosh Reque and her husband Eric, Wanda Cronic Sales and her husband Kenneth, Karen Cronic Baker and her husband Todd, Lisa Cronic Goines and husband Phillip, Amanda Hood Robinson and husband Caleb; great nephews Caleb and Joshua Grosh, Joshua Yute, and Jason Warner; great nieces Rebekah Yute and Amy Warner; and special cousins Roberta Sloan and Franklin Luther. Funeral service will be at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 31, 2019 in the Chapel of Flanigan Funeral Home with Jack Haynes officiating. Interment will follow at Duncan Creek Congregational Church Cemetery, Buford, GA with Richard Boone conducting the graveside memorial. Family will receive friends at the funeral home on Friday, May 31 from 9:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to one of the two loves of his life: the Lawrenceville Church of Christ, 2565 Sugarloaf Parkway, Lawrenceville, GA 30045 or to Commerce High School Athletics CHS Athletics, Commerce High School, 272 Lakeview Drive, Commerce, GA 30529 to celebrate the incredible life outlined below, and honor the memory of Junior Welton Cronic. His father, Grady Cronic, worked at the local Blue Belle plant while his mother, Gertrude Cronic, worked at the plant in Gainesville. His oldest brother was Horace, and his only sister was Louise. He was active in sports throughout his youth, and the twins were formidable linebackers for the Tigers, sometimes even playing with the flu because of their competitive natures. He was a Class of 1947 graduate of Commerce High School then spent one year at the University of Georgia. When he was home for the summer, Don Burchett got "1/2 of Commerce to join the Air Force". However, his momma would not allow him to enlist unless his twin brother Felton enlisted with him. Welton and Felton were excited, and enlisted with Herman Small, James Green, James Caan, and Russell Wall, among others. They all packed into the recruiter's car and drove to the office to sign up. After attending boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, he was sent to Tech School at Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Los Alamos was requesting two Corporals be assigned there. At first, they turned it down. The Korean War broke out and Sgt. Everett Fletcher said that they should take it. They followed his advice and were reassigned. They were sent to Sandy AFB in Albuquerque, NM for 10 days to wait on top secret security clearance. Once the clearance was approved, they were "assigned" to Fort Meade in Maryland, but working at Los Alamos. Major Fowdy called them and said their tickets were waiting for them at the bus station. During this time, he was involved in the top secret development of the H bomb, and was at the testing on Enewetak Island. They were in Los Alamos from 1950 - 1953. Between 1951 and 1952, he and Felton were in the Marshall Islands, where the H bomb was tested at Enewetok. They returned to Los Alamos and Welton went to Desert Rock, Nevada as part of the Desert Rock exercises. Welton was at ground zero half an hour after one of the tests at the Nevada Test Site: "we would pick up the instrument, throw it in the back of the truck, and worked our way to the bulls eye. We had to work FAST 'cause we wanted to get out of there!" He and his partner took the instruments back, loaded them up on a B-24 to fly them to the lab. "Man, we had a huge checklist we had to go through before they would fly out". One of his memories was a guy in his barracks collected rattlesnakes, and "boy it was loud in the barracks!" On his birthday in 1953, he was transferred with Felton to Tyndall AFB in Panama City, FL. As soon as they arrived, they were instructed to go to the chapel area. They were presented a big birthday cake that said "Happy Birthday Junior and James on your 23rd Birthday". The card was signed "From J Division". J Division was the Division they had left the day before in Los Alamos. The next day, the base paper had their picture and an article on the front page about Col. Lunger from Los Alamos contacting the base commander and arranging the birthday party. Welton said his time at Tyndall was on the flight line, and it was the worst job he ever had to do in the Air Force. From 1954-1956 he was stationed at Sampson AFB in Geneva, NY. In 1956, he had the "coldest year" of his life stationed in Alaska, then fortunately spent 1957 - 1963 at Hamilton AFB near San Francisco, CA. He recalled fondly driving over the Golden Gate Bridge on weekends and seeing the incredible number of sailboats on the water. From 1963 - 1964, he was stationed at Ent AFB in Colorado Springs, CO, working at NORAD. In 1964 and 1965 he was reassigned to South Korea. When his commander told him that he was reassigned he told the commander "I didn't lose anything in South Korea so I don't need to go get anything there". He said the commander didn't find it as funny and sent him anyway. He said the conditions were bad in South Korea and was happy when he was sent back to SAC base in Altos, OK, where he remained until he retired in 1968. Felton re-enlisted for two more years before rejoining Welton at their home in Commerce. Welton, and Felton, became huge supporters of Commerce High School athletics and the Commerce Blazers softball team. They attended every game possible, Commerce Tigers football was their true love, and they considered Coach Ray Lamb as a great coach, and a great man, bending his ear whenever they got the chance. They were named Grand Marshalls for the 1998 Commerce High School Homecoming game parade, which Welton considered one of the best honors of his life. Welton also became a member of the Lawrenceville Church of Christ when he returned from the Air Force, and remained a faithful member for the remainder of his life. Rarely missing a Sunday until he was unable to continue driving, the church banded together to find ways for him to still make it to worship. Jack and Wendy Haynes, and Mike and Andrea Shields would take turns picking him up Sunday morning, and bringing him back safely after the service was complete. Unfortunately, his health continued to decline, making even the shortest of trips a hazard for him physically. He dearly missed his worship time and being with the members he loved, but continued reading his bible for hours each day until his mind would not let him understand the words any longer. Since he could not go to church, the church came to him, with several visits from church members to worship with him, share memories with him, pass on good news from prayer requests, and to encourage him. Rob and Maria Dysart were a constant support during his last few months to both Welton and his caregivers. Welton also enjoyed his conversations with Richard Boone, whom he held in the highest regard and would begin to cry as he would tell the story of Brother Boone's spiritual journey. After Felton passed, he spent more and more time in Tucker with his sister Louise and brother in law Henry. In January of 2017, it became necessary to have a caregiver. His niece Tamra was caregiver to Felton, Louise, Henry, and Welton through to the end. He told her how much he missed Felton, and wished he could see him again. He laughed, and cried, recalling his life and family, and was constantly saying thank you for taking such good care of everyone. He stayed with Henry and the two visited Louise in rehab every day until she passed in March. It broke his heart as he was the last of his family, but like the incredible man he was, he didn't want Henry to be alone, and was his constant companion until September when Henry passed. Over the course of the next year and a half, he was sharing stories, memories, and love. He never met a stranger, and if anyone brought up sports, the conversation could last the rest of the day with stats rattled off in the blink of an eye. He was a patriotic man, serving his country proudly and retiring from the Air Force; he was a godly man, serving Christ and his church; and he was an uplifting man to everyone he met, and to the family that loved him dearly. Our heart is broken that he is gone from his earthly body, but overjoyed that what he wished for most has come, and he is reunited with his twin brother, and the rest of his family, in a place that is a fitting reward for his life...Heaven, with his Heavenly Father, for all of eternity. We love you, and will miss you, but will see you again when the game clock runs out.