MONTE VISTA — Dan Lawrence Welsh was born Sept. 10, 1929 in Elkhart, Kan. He passed away March 4, 2019 in Monte Vista, at the Colorado State Veterans Home.

He graduated from Alamosa High School in Alamosa, in 1947. He then attended Adams State College in Alamosa,  where he received a bachelor’s in English in 1951. This was followed with a master’s in English in 1956 from Kansas State Teachers College.

He entered the U.S. Navy in 1952 for a 38-month tour where he served in the medical corps, both on land and on ship.

He was preceded in death by his father, Don Welsh; his mother, Alma Welsh of Aransas Pass, Texas; older brothers, Carl Welsh of Colorado Springs, and Lee Welsh, formerly of Antonito; his previous wife, Leoma Marie Wittman Welsh of New Boston, Ind. who passed away in 2014.

He has surviving family of a son, Joel Welsh of Johnson City, Tenn.; a daughter, Barbara Welsh Carver of Tell City, Ind.; a niece, Diane Welsh Smith of Casa Grande, Ariz.; and a nephew, Dwight Welsh of La Jara.

He taught school both in Colorado and in the Panama Canal Zone. Part of his adult life he lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, before moving back to the San Luis Valley around 2000.

As his friends remember him, Dan was a friendly fellow and loved to speak to anyone and everyone who chose to engage him in conversation. He liked to write poetry and was a dedicated and consistent pen pal to friends and family. He also liked to collect coins and had a fond spot in his heart for Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower.

He volunteered in his retired years with a literacy program in Alamosa, as a wheelchair transporter at the San Luis Valley Hospital and was actively involved with the local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous.