Betty Welter

Betty Welter, 100, of St. Germain, passed away peacefully on April 10, 2024.

Welter

She was born June 17, 1923, in Cornell, to Walter and Estelle (Miller) Gilbert, the youngest of eight children. Just after graduating from Altoona high school, Betty became one of the first women to work on the Southern Pacific Railroad when she took a job maintaining and installing brake parts during WWII. Later she trained to be a Radio Technician and moved to Springfield, Ohio near an airbase where she built and repaired radios for Army planes. She worked many other jobs throughout her life including 20 years at Spurgeon’s department store in Prairie du Chien.

She met her husband, Donald Welter, on a “not-so-blind” date in Eau Claire and they married in 1949 in Stillwater, Minn. They built their first home in Eau Claire, and throughout their marriage lived in La Crosse, Onalaska, and Prairie du Chien. They had one daughter, Sally. Betty and Don loved hosting parties, entertaining guests, and spending time on the Mississippi River.

In addition to being a lifelong Packers fan and a fan of the Milwaukee Braves and Brewers, Betty loved to travel, play cribbage, and spend time with friends and family, especially her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughters.

Betty is survived by one daughter, Sally (Jon) Reuling of St. Germain; two granddaughters, Laura Reuling (Jamie Reese) of St. Paul, Minn. and Amy Reuling (Sam Arnold) of Bainbridge Island, Wash.; and many special nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Donald, her parents and stepfather, four brothers (Gerald, Ross, Elmer, and Howard Gilbert), and three sisters (Verda Jones, Lula Schmit, and Esther Metcalf).

She will be remembered as a strong, independent, kind and fun-loving mother, grandmother, aunt, and dear friend who cooked a mean fish fry.

A celebration of life will be scheduled in summer 2024. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the St. Germain Rescue Squad, the St. Germain Lions Club, or the Vilas Food Pantry.

Bolger Cremation & Funeral Services is assisting the family, www.bolgerfuneral.com to share condolences.