[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO ALMA ANNA WELK

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 13, 1997

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a very special 
individual who is residing in my congressional district in Michigan. 
Her name is Alma Anna Welk and next month she will be celebrating her 
100th birthday.
  I'd like to bring you back in history 100 years to the time of the 
Klondike gold rush, Joseph Stalin's birth, and the closing of the 
British Victorian period. It was during this era that Alma was born in 
Alpena, MI, on December 11, 1897.
  Born to Millie and Charles Bromund, Anna was the second of six 
children. Not long after Anna's birth, the Bromund family made their 
way to Marinette, WI, where Anna attended Peshtigo Point School. In 
1910, at the age of 13, she began working for families around the area. 
She left her jobs and her community when she was 17 to return with her 
family to Alpena. It was here, in 1917, during the Lenten season, that 
Anna met her true love, William Welk. They were introduced to one 
another by a mutual friend, Beulah Schultz. Beulah had put together a 
perfect match. Anna and William were married on November 23 of that 
same year.
  On March 9, 1919, they had their first child--Laurine. During the 
next 15 years and all through the Great Depression, the couple bore 
five more children, three girls and two boys: Ethel, Margaret, Ruth 
Jane, William, and Richard. They were just getting over the effects of 
the Depression when the family was struck by tragedy with the death of 
their youngest child, Richard, at the age of three.
  Years went by and Alma and William's children grew up and, one by 
one, they all married. The family expanded with the addition of 10 
grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. In 1967, the passing of 
William--loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather--
was a tremendous loss to the entire family.
  Mr. Speaker, next month we will be commemorating these 100 years of 
Alma Anna Welk's life. My congratulations go out to Alma on this very 
special occasion. It is an event that has found her continuing to be a 
vigorous and active member of the Alpena community. It is always a 
pleasure for me to deliver a tribute of this kind to my constituents 
who are living legends of the Michigan area. Alma is an enduring 
witness of American history from the William McKinley administration to 
the William Clinton administration. As she celebrates this milestone 
with family and friends, I offer my best wishes for many more joyous 
years to come. In my personal life with family members and my 
professional life as a Member of Congress, I have found that age does 
indeed equate with knowledge, wisdom, and a profound respect for the 
value of tradition.

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