After his 1935 death in a plane crash, his widow donated the ranch to California State Parks in 1944. The Topanga Ranch Motel was built in Topanga State Park in 1929 by William Randolph Hearst ...

After a brief illness, William “Bill” Welch passed away at the age of 85 ... North Carolina and Harper Cleland of Los Angeles, California; nieces, Leanne Jolin (Scott) of Old Lyme, Connecticut ...