John Augustin Wellenberger, III, 76, of White Hall, departed on Saturday, October 7, 2023.
He was born July 7, 1947 in Rockville Centre, N.Y. to parents John Wellenberger, Jr. and Marjory Thomasson Wellenberger. He was the eldest of four brothers.
John spent his childhood years living throughout Kansas and Texas while his father worked for the MKT railroad. With the untimely passing of his father, the family relocated to Monticello, where he graduated from Monticello High School in 1965.
During the Vietnam era, John served honorably in the United States Air Force from 1967 to 1972 while being stationed in Misawa, Japan.
He returned home and settled in Pine Bluff, working for radio station KOTN, where he gained popularity as disc jockey “John John Wellington”. Between stints at KOTN, he also worked at WHBQ in Memphis under the name John Wells.
In 1973, he married Judy Dianne Young, of Pine Bluff. Together they had one son, John Augustin Wellenberger IV.
In 1982, John graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. Following graduation, he proceeded to work for the State of Arkansas’s Department of Finance and Administration until his retirement in 2014.
He was very active in his community, volunteering with the Arkansas Railroad Museum and his church, Trinity Episcopal, serving several terms as a member of the church vestry. John also was a board member of the Cotton Belt Railroad Historical Society. He often served as treasurer for both organizations and oversaw the Lucy S. Elliott Scholarship Fund.
Along with his parents, John was preceded in death by his brother Robert B. Wellenberger.
Survivors include Judy Wellenberger; his son, John Wellenberger, IV and his partner, Margaret Grotendorst; brothers, Paul and Peter Wellenberger; and two grandchildren, Charlotte Blackburn Grotendorst-Wellenberger and Henri Augustin Grotendorst-Wellenberger.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, October 12, 2023 at Trinity Episcopal Church with the Reverend Jesse Reeves officiating. Interment will follow at 1:15 p.m. in Oakland Cemetery in Monticello by Robinson & Fuller White Hall.
Visitation will be Thursday morning from 9:30 a.m. until service time in the Parish Hall at Trinity Episcopal Church.
Memorials may be made to the Arkansas Railroad Museum, 1700 Port Road, Pine Bluff, AR 71601 (arkansasrailroadmuseum.org); or to Trinity Episcopal Church, 703 West 3rd Avenue, Pine Bluff, AR 71601.
Online register: www.RFWhiteHall.com
