Tom Welborn, the television face and voice for high school sports in Lee County for years, died on Saturday after a long battle with cancer, his family announced on social media. Welborn was 69.
A Winston-Salem native and graduate of Tennessee Temple University — where he met his wife Cheryl — Welborn started Victory Sports of Lee County Inc. in 1993, to “spread the gospel of Jesus to the sports world.” He had been a fixture on Sanford’s WBFT TV-46, hosting Heart of Carolina Sports and providing television play-by-play for just about every Lee County and Southern Lee High School sports program. He was often joined on WBFT by his wife, and he ended every show with a Biblical passage or spiritual encouragement.
His place in the pantheon of local sports aside, Welborn was a genuinely nice guy who kept his positive attitude and warm demeanor to the end, even through the worst of his battle with cancer.
Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.
