Letitia (Tish) Welch

2/22/1931-8/25/2024

Tish passed peacefully on August 25, 2024 at the age of 93. She was the matriarch of both sides of her family.

Born in Groveland Station , NY during the Depression, she was the fourth child of George and Edith Roffe. She had four brothers, George (AKA Arthur), Francis, Wilfred (AKA Wimp) and Nelson (AKA Johnnie).

As a young girl she loved being outside and daily wandered long miles in Mann’s Gulley and visited neighbors. It was nothing for her to drop by certain elders when a cookie was in the offering.

Her oldest brother Art was her personal hero and a WWII fighter jet pilot who lost his life in the Pacific when she was only 13 yrs old. She never stopped hoping that he would return home.  To this day his remains have not been found and she always flew a POW-MIA flag in the front of her home. All her brothers and brothers-in-laws served in WWII as well as her husband.

Her mother was a school teacher and her father was the village barber and welfare officer. They lived next door to the YWCA where she worked tirelessly as a young girl cleaning the sleeping quarters. It was there where she developed a loving friendship with Emma Thieg who taught her how to bake for large numbers Tish made amazing pies, fruit cakes and cookies which were in high demand at every holiday.

She was an outgoing tomboy and made many life-long friends. She met the love her life when she was 22 yrs-old. She was working at Kodak and went to watch her brother Fran play softball and introduced her to the first baseman, Bill (pretty sure it was a fix up). Tish was a beautiful woman and it’s no surprise that Bill fell madly in love. They began their marriage in Niagara Falls as he attended his senior year in college. She often reminisced about their first apartment next to a church where the bells were right outside their window and every hour the apartment shook from the bell ringing.

Bill and Tish had seven children. Bill Jr, Judie, Mary, George, Peter, Teresa and Charles.  Sadly only Bill, Judie and Mary lived…the other children died at birth due to the RH factor. Such a difficult time in their young lives but Tish demonstrated grace and strength and poured her energies into raising their family. She deeply loved her grandchildren….Peter, Brittany, Stephen and Jacob Welch.

The family shared simple pleasures such as driving for ice cream, blackberry picking, ice skating and corn picking. She canned peaches and tomatoes for a special winter treat every harvest season.

She loved to garden, play cards and spend time with family and friends. She was an obvious extrovert who was interested in everyone she met. She was generous with her time and showed her love of others through action. When her sister in law, Gert, was diagnosed with Cancer, Tish worked her job for year and gave Gert the paycheck until she was able to come back to work. She helped neighbors in need and especially loved babysitting children. Numerous children benefitted from her loving touch. She was a caregiver for her mother for several years.

She loved to travel and always wished she could have explored more places. She was thrilled to go to Australia with her daughter Mary to visit her daughter Judie in Melbourne. She was thrilled to attend the orchestra in the Sydney Opera House on her birthday.

Almost every year Bill and Tish went to Maine and stayed at her cousins’ house in Biddeford Pool. There were awesome views and the lobster rolls were always a favorite.

In later years she loved to go for rides in the country. She would point out where all the relatives used to live. Her pride and joy was her home. Over the years they improved their GI Bill home into a beautiful and warm abode. She was such a hard worker….she painted and wall papered each room several times over the years. She had a knack for design but never stood back and let others do all the work. She would haul bricks and rocks for beautifying the yard and gardens. She even installed a fish pond single handedly.

In the days of matching gloves, hats and shoes, she was particularly known for her hats. Every Easter the congregation looked forward to seeing a new bonnet and were never disappointed.

She had a knack for showing up in your darkest hour and never expected anything in return. Tish had a deep faith that she nurtured. Until the end she would daily take out her prayer list that contained close to seventy names and each name would be called out for a specific request.

She was an avid reader and belonged to the YMCA Book Club for years. Many members commented on her insightful and poignant notes. She did the daily crossword puzzle and these activities kept her mind sharp until the very end. She will be sorely missed by her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and all those who had the fortune to have Tish be a part of their lives.

She was a member of the Women’s League of Voters and up until the morning of her death commented that she wanted to make sure that she got her absentee ballot.

Her love for her husband was so evident to all who knew them. Her support of his career and interests never faltered. She was there when his health failed him and worked tirelessly and sometimes at the cost of her own health, to make sure he was able to stay in the home he loved.

Donations are being accepted for the William Welch Scholarship Fund

c/o Henrietta Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 562, Henrietta NY 14467