Gertrude Welsh Obituary

Gertrude Josephine Welsh (96), a caring, loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother passed away November 9, 2015.

When we her children reflect back on our Mom's life and what it meant for our own lives we cannot help thinking about how much she cared about each of us and our children and their children.

She was born in Eldorado, Kansas, on March 23, 1919 and moved to Colorado Springs with her parents, Henry L. and Matilda Frank, and six brothers and sisters. She graduated from St. Mary's High School and Colorado State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Colorado). She began teaching in Greenland, Colorado, in a one-room school house that still stands in sight of Interstate 25. A member of the Greatest Generation, she married James O'Riley Welsh, just prior to his departure to the Pacific theater in World War II.

During his deployment, she gave birth to twin boys and raised them on her own until their Dad returned two and a half years later. After his return they were blessed with four additional children, two girls and another set of twin boys. She cared deeply about her Catholic faith, her family and her flower garden. But when the nest was finally empty, she and her husband moved to south Texas for the warmth of the sun. She loved sweets and at one point gave them up as an extended Lenten sacrifice for the health and well-being of her family. In her later years, she was never without her stash of candy, much to the delight of her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years and sisters; Betty Stratford, Barbara Nickelson, Rene Reiden and Rita Pribble and a brother, Bernard Frank.

She is survived by her brother, Larry Frank, or Colorado Springs and six children; Richard J. Welsh of Dallas, Texas; Michael F. Welsh of Florence, South Carolina; Kathleen A. Cammack of Sierra Vista, Arizona; David A. Welsh of Dayton, Ohio; Donald J. Welsh of Houston, Texas; and Mary T. Goecker of Colorado Springs, Colorado as well as 12 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.

She long believed death to be a friendly hand that beckoned her to eternal happiness. "It should be a celebration," she reminded her children. So it is that her family and friends will gather to celebrate her long life, her eternal happiness, and together recall so many happy memories of her.