Lorraine Welsh

May 19, 1923 - November 3, 2015

Myrtle "Lorraine" Bishop Welsh was born in Lemoyne, Nebraska on May 19, 1923. She was called home to her maker on November 3, 2015. She grew up in Nebraska near the small rural town of Ogallala. Her father owned and operated a heavy equipment construction company, specializing in bridge and road building, headquartered at their family farm. She was predeceased by her parents (Ralph and Beatrice Bishop) and her siblings (Kenneth Bishop and Bonnie Suhr) and several nieces and nephews. Lorraine worked as a school teacher in a one room country school, teaching K-8th grades for several years in her early 20s. She also worked as a "Rosie the Riveter" during WWII, doing electrical modifications on B-17 Bombers in Denver. After the war, she married Leslie Albert (Bud) Welsh of Ogallala in 1948. They had their son, Lyle in 1949, their daughters Connie in 1951 and Barbara in 1955. Bud, who worked for Standard Oil, died suddenly of a massive heart attack in 1965, when he was only 45 and she had just turned 42. Her children were 16, 14 and 10 at the time. Her lifelong favorite passions were teaching and baking. Though she gave up classroom teaching when she got married, she baked professionally for the remainder of her life and taught others the baking trade for many years. She worked for years as a professional baker out of her home and then out of three local restaurants, Hokes Cafe (which she also managed), Cassel's Family Restaurant and Front Street Cafe. She made wedding cakes and baked goods to order and had patrons from all over the state of Nebraska. She was the volunteer Superintendent of Sunday School at the Ogallala First Congregational - United Church of Christ. She was active as a Girl Scout Council Leader and a talented artist, wood-worker, leather tooler, seamstress, gardener, prankster and sang in the church choir. She worked as a Weight Watchers lecturer and a distributor for the Omaha World Herald newspaper as well. She also managed, maintained and repaired her real estate properties. There was nothing she couldn't fix, make or do. She enjoyed working at the Ogallala elementary school lunch program for several years. She also managed a donut shop in her early 60s before "retiring" at 65 and moving to San Diego to take care of one of her newborn grandsons, Ryan Osga. She continued in that "work" caring for the addition of two granddaughters, Lauren & Emily Osga. In San Diego, she was active in the Mira Mesa Presbyterian Church in the Senior Women's Fellowship, church choir and one of the seminal Prayers and Squares Quilt Ministries. She also served as an ordained Elder. In 1995 she joined Palisades Presbyterian Church, where she was instrumental in establishing another chapter of the Prayers and Squares Quilt Ministry. She was often invited to meet with school classrooms and youth groups to speak about her life experiences in her uniquely entertaining and informative style. She is survived by her son, Lyle Welsh (Nancy) of Littleton, CO. and daughters Connie Gregory (David) of Fountain Hills, AZ and Barbara Welsh-Osga (Glenn) of San Diego; eight grandchildren: Kendra Olexa (Michael), Aaron Welsh, Cristofer Welsh, Nicolas Welsh, Shaun Welsh, Ryan Osga (Ana), Lauren Osga (Evan Amo), and Emily Osga; and one great-grandson, Zachary Olexa. She has been the Super Matriarch of both her family of origin and her late husband's family of origin. She was known to all as "Grandma" or "Aunt Rainy" and loved that above all. She encouraged character-building experiences and was a role model to all who knew her, young and old. A Memorial has been established in her honor with the American Heart Association. Condolences may be shared at prairiehillsfuneralhome.com, where the service will be streamed live for those unable to attend. A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 13, 2016, at 11AM at the First Congregational - United Church of Christ with Pastor Lisa Hadler officiating. Prairie Hills Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Memorial Information: This is a quick link to Lorraine's memorial fund with the American Heart Association. http://honor.americanheart.org/goto/LorraineWelsh