Kenneth R. Welton
October 10, 1934 – May 7, 2015
Kenneth Welton, a Civil Engineer and Urban Land Economist, was involved in the development of over 1,009 acres of land throughout the Madison metropolitan area over the last 30 years. Ken was formerly a 50% owner in Executive Management, Inc., another commercial real estate firm, and before that he was President of Wick Building Systems, Inc. a national manufacturing, construction and development firm with 17 offices and 15 factories throughout the United States. In December of 1965, Ken and several others started the Madison Real Estate Investment Fund (a common law public REIT). Ken was an Officer and Director until August 4, 1985. On December 30, 1985, he and one other partner purchased all of the assets of the Madison Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF).
In addition to these local projects, Ken, in his capacity as President of Wick Building Systems, personally selected sites, designed, financed and built most of Wick’s 15 factories nationwide. Although Wick was a privately-held company, as Chief Operating Officer, Ken chaired a paid outside board for the 4,500-employee firm. This outside board consisted of the chief operating officers of three Fortune-200 companies and the Dean of the UW Graduate School of Business. Prior to Wick Building Systems, Ken spent 3 years as a consulting engineer at Mead and Hunt and a short period with the Army Corps of Engineers where he was honorably discharged as a Captain at age 29.
Named Marketer of the Year in 1975 by the American Marketing Association, Ken was a member and former Director of the Madison Rotary Club (Downtown). Ken passed away at his home in Naples, FL on May 7, 2015. His full obituary can be viewed here.
Kurtis D. Welton
Kurtis D. Welton, Ken’s oldest son, graduated in 1983 from the UW-Madison School of Business with a B.B.A. in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics (The Graaskamp Program). Prior to that Kurt was in the U.S. Army where he graduated #1 in the self-paced training curriculum of the U.S. Army Signal School in Ft. Gordon, GA (COBET) before being stationed in Korea. While in Korea Kurt was awarded the Soldier of the Company and the Soldier of the Battalion awards as well as the Safe Driver ribbon for driving over 50,000 miles without an accident.
Kurt is the President and Treasurer at Welton Enterprises and prior to rejoining the firm he worked at The Stark Company as a sales associate from 1990-1995 where he achieved an annual sales volume of over 4.3 million dollars, placing him among the top 10 sales associates in the entire company at that time. He earned the GRI award from the National Association of Realtors in 1995 and has served on the Governmental Affairs, R.P.A.C, Professional Standards and Arbitration Committees as a member.
Kurt is a Charter Member and Paul Harris Fellow of the Madison Breakfast Rotary Club, where he is also a Past President (1989-90), Past Secretary (1996-98), Historian and Chaplain. Kurt was the District 6250 Membership Growth Committee Chairman in 1995-96, a member of the District 6250 Computer Resources Committee in 1997, the District 6250 1995-96 Conference Sergeant at Arms Committee Chairman, and Webmaster for the Presidents Elect Training Seminar Committee for Rotary Districts 6250, 6220, and 6270 in 1996.
Kurt is also the Webmaster for Welton Enterprises and, until recently, the Diocese of Madison. In 2002 Kurt was elected President of the Board of Education for the 47 schools in the Madison Diocese, and in the Jubilee Year 2000 received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Award from Pope John Paul II. More information about Kurt, his five children, and his other activities and responsibilities are available in Kurt’s Resume.