Paul J. Weldon, 64, third generation owner of Van Bergen & Greener Inc., a Weldon Corporation, died peacefully in his home from complications of multiple myeloma May 24, 2021. He was surrounded by immediate family members.
The owner of the only U.S. manufacturer of starter drives and starter drives components, Weldon led the 102-year-old company with innovation, compassion, ambition and empathy. Known and respected in Catholic business leadership communities, he had been an active member of Lumen Institute's Chicago group.
A native of River Forest, where he was born the fifth of six children to Bill and the Patricia Weldon, he began working with his father at Van Bergen & Greener a few years after earning his bachelor's in business from Loyola University in Chicago in 1978. He later earned his master's in business administration at Roosevelt University.
He is a 1974 graduate of Fenwick High School in Oak Park, where he was remembered for his sense of humor. After graduation, he attended Georgetown University for his freshman year, transferring his sophomore year to Loyola in Chicago.
He was married in 1985 to Bernadette, nee Treacy, and they raised their three children Matthew, Treacy (Dan) O'Keefe, and Marirose in River Forest before moving to Oak Brook. His wife passed in 2004 as a result of an undiagnosed brain tumor.
He married Diane Schikora Tentler in 2015.
A generous supporter of Catholic charities and funds locally, nationally and internationally, Weldon was known as a modest and private man, honoring the responsibilities of family first, with deep commitment to his faith.
A well-known and popular resident of Oak Brook for more than 25 years, Weldon also had homes in New Buffalo, Mich. and Palm Harbor, Fla., where he spent weekends and vacations with his extended family.
Known for his generosity to family and his candid sense of humor, Weldon liked to pull pranks and surprise people with his jokes. He was recognized in his neighborhood for his 2000 red Corvette with the license plate, "Ooh Yah."
Running the manufacturing company as sole proprietor following his father's death in 1988 and working alongside his mother, who was chief financial officer at the company until her death in 2002, Weldon maintained a fervent commitment to his customers, suppliers and employees in the Maywood plant his father purchased in the 1980s. He often joked that the "E" in CEO stood for energy.
In addition to his wife and three children, Weldon is survived by his wife's three children, Robert, David and Julie Tentler; his five siblings, Mary Pat (Ken) Woitas, Maureen Weldon, Bill (the late Madonna) Weldon, Madeleine (Mike) Weldon-Linne and Michele Weldon; his siblings-in-law, William (Deborah) Treacy, Barbara Treacy, Rosemary Treacy, Mary Pat (Jeff) Sutter and Sharon Carroll; his 27 nieces and nephews, Megan (Alex) Rodriguez, Jaime (Joe) Doss, Kevin (Sherry ) Woitas, Laura (Rob ) Clark, Molly (Joe) Barber, Katie Fegan, Maggie Fegan, Bill Weldon, Erin (Bill) Wilton, Elizabeth (Brian) Freer, Conor (Caroline) Weldon, Caelan (Eric) Lampe, Aleksandra Weldon-Line (Evan) Shapiro; Mariel Reeves, Alyssa (Dustin) Jesberger, Weldon, Brendan and Colin Rogers, Patrick, Caitlin and Sean Treacy, Andrew and Scott Sutter and Nora Carroll.
Services are private.
Internment is at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made online to Missionaries of Charity at https://www.motherteresa.org/missionaries-of-charity.html or Legionnaries of Christ.
Sullivan Funeral Home in Hinsdale handled the arrangements.
