Grace Irene Mehl Welu 1917-2010

MEHL, WELU, BUTTIKOFFER, SPODEN, KEENAN, MONTGOMERY, BRIMEYER, HUTTER, HELLER

Posted By: j.n. (email)
Date: 1/4/2010 at 19:33:03

Telegraph Herald
Dubuque, Iowa
Sunday, January 3, 2010

Grace Welu

ASBURY, Iowa -- Grace Irene Welu, 92, of 2385 Radford Road, Asbury, passed away Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010, at her residence.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, at Resurrection Catholic Church. Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery. Friends may call from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5, at Egelhof, Seigert, and Casper Westview Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 2659 Kennedy Road, where there will be a parish wake service at 5 p.m.

She was born on Dec. 3, 1917, in Dubuque, the youngest daughter of Herman and Louise (Buttikoffer) Mehl. She married Peter D. Welu on Feb. 4, 1936, at St. Columbkille's Church in Dubuque, and began the career in which she excelled: wife and mother. Peter preceded her in death on Aug. 24, 1994.

Grace always put her family first, but when she and her husband purchased an acre of cornfield and built one of the first new houses on a graveled Radford Road in Asbury in 1952, she expanded her life into many areas of interest.

A convert to Catholicism, she loved her adopted religion and it was reflected over many years by her devotion and duties toward her church. She planted a gladiola garden from which she used to decorate the altar of St. Philomena's. She washed and ironed the linens and vestments for the church, even after it was transformed into the new Resurrection Church. She eventually helped organize and was the chairperson of the first Resurrection Fall Festival and worked on the festival and the Resurrection rummage sale for many years.

To facilitate her new interests, she learned to drive in her 50s, and fearlessly, she was soon motoring to bingo and trout fishing spots. She loved to walk the banks of Swiss Valley Creek, always looking for a big one. After trout fishing, she switched to bass and amassed a large tackle box of lures. She made her last bass fishing trip to Minnesota at the age of 88, still casting lures from the back of her son's bass boat, and there was always a quarter bet on the first keeper bass.

In 1975, she took her first job outside the home, working as an attendant at her son's business in Kennedy Mall, the Red Baron video arcade. She worked at the business, later Starcade, until 1990, and the kids who played games there liked and respected her.

But her husband, her home, her family, were always the center of her universe. Whether wrapping Christmas presents, decorating her home, cooking or maintaining an open-door policy to all, she was a wise and loving woman whose advice and companionship was enjoyed by family and friends. Grace was kind to everyone, and she was a friend to all.

Surviving are her five children, Peter "Dick" (Sharon) Welu, of Bellevue, Iowa, Paul (Charlene) Welu, of Andover, Minn., Nancy Welu and John (Betty) Welu, both of Dubuque, and Sue (Neil) Spoden, of Dyersville, Iowa; 13 grandchildren;15 great-grandchildren; a sister-in-law, Elizabeth (Bebe) Keenan; and many nieces and nephews.

She also was preceded in death by her parents; an infant sister and brother; four sisters, Evelyn Montgomery, Gladys Brimeyer, Ethel Hutter and Ruby Heller; two brothers, Walter Mehl and Raymond Mehl; and a grandchild, John Welu Jr.

In lieu of flowers, a Grace Welu Memorial Fund has been established.

Online condolences may be submitted at www.egelhof

siegertcasper.com.

The Welu family thanks the many caregivers from Luther Manor Care at Home, Mercy Home Care and Hospice of Dubuque who helped take care of Grace. A special thanks to her granddaughter, Stephanie Welu, who devoted many hours and much effort to the care of her grandmother, which enabled her to spend her last two years in the home she loved. Our sincere gratitude to her many caring physicians and nurses at Medical Associates, especially the offices of Dr. Thomas Schreiber, Dr. Jihad Khalil, and Dr. Michael Scott.