Carol Ann Welch

Carol Ann Welch (nee Ehardt), 75, retired reference librarian, died at her home in Phoenixville, PA, on February 3, 2023, after a prolonged battle with a brain tumor.

Carol was born on December 8, 1947, in Rochester, PA, to Frederick and Aris M. Ehardt. 

She was a graduate of St. Joseph’s University with a bachelor’s degree in English. The daughter of a career Air Force officer, she and her two brothers grew up traveling the world with stops in both Japan and Germany. 

She met Richard Welch while they were attending classes at the University of Maryland, College Park, and they were married in 1968. Richard was a career naval officer, so traveling the world continued with stops in Oakland and Lemoore, CA; Bethesda,  MD; Agana, Guam; and Yokosuka, Japan. Their final stop was the Naval Hospital in Philadelphia. Upon retirement, they decided that they liked the Philadelphia area and bought a home in Havertown, PA. 

After Richard’s death in 2003, Carol moved to Phoenixville to be closer to work and friends. A career reference librarian, she worked at many libraries around the world including two long stays at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia and the Chester County Library in Exton, PA, where she worked until she retired in 2020. 

After retirement, Carol’s favorite hobbies included watching Korean TV dramas, volunteering at The Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, and helping to watch and raise her two young grandchildren. 

She is survived by sons, Timothy and Andrew (Michele) Welch; grandchildren, Luke and Aris Welch; brother, William Ehardt of San Francisco, CA; sister-in-law, Maria Ehardt of Frederick, MD, and her niece Livia Ehardt of Seattle, WA. 

Her Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in St. Ann Catholic Church, 502 S. Main Street, Phoenixville, on Saturday, February 11, 2023 at 11:30 a.m., where family and friends may call after 10:30 a.m.

Interment will be in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA, with her husband, Richard, and very near to her parents Fred and Aris. 

She was very lucky during her illness to have had the help of some great friends, caregivers and nurses who provided anything she might have needed and did so without hesitation. Her fight against the tumor would have been much harder without the support of these wonderful people. 

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in her name to the Glioblastoma Foundation, P.O. Box 62066 Durham, NC 27715 or online using the link below.