Arrived in America in early 1850s. Married Andrew Pim Welch (1838-1889).
Mother of Berthe Marion (1873-1950), Charles James (1875- ), Andrew Pim (1878-1975), Aloysius Joseph "Louis" Welch. Her husband Andrew Welch was very successful in the sugar industry and upon his early death in 1989 left an estate in excess of one million dollars according to the newspapers. After donations to charities Berthe inherited half of the estate the rest going in trust for her four minor children.
By the turn of the century she was living in a 57 room mansion at 1090 Eddy ST, San Francisco, CA.
She was a major patron of the Catholic Church. Following the death of her husband, Mrs. Welch gave sizeable gifts from her inherited estate to St. Ignatius Church and College and to various Catholic charities in San Francisco. One of the first charities assisted by Mrs. Welch was the Francesca Society of San Francisco, named after Saint Frances of Rome and dedicated to distributing clothing and food to poor families in San Francisco.
In April 1890, Mrs. Welch made her first direct contribution to St. Ignatius Church. It was for $50,000, and it enabled Aloysius Varsi, S.J., prefect of St. Ignatius Church, to add substantially to the art, paintings, stained glass windows, sculpture, and other decorations of the church. Mrs. Welch soon gave another $50,000 to the church for the purchase of one of the finest church organs in America, referred to by one newspaper as the "King of Instruments." In 1898, the president of St. Ignatius College, John Frieden, S.J., appealed to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Louis Martin, to grant Mrs. Welch a rare honor: to be designated a benefactor of the Society of Jesus and "admitted to a share in all the good works performed by the Jesuit Order." Fr. Martin agreed to this request.
When the earthquake and fire struck San Francisco on April 18, 1906, Mrs. Welch was in New York. When she learned of the destruction of St. Ignatius Church and College, she immediately telegraphed Fr. Frieden, offering the Jesuits her mansion on Eddy Street as a temporary residence. Eighteen Jesuits from the displaced Jesuit community soon moved into her home, established a temporary chapel, and lived there for the next five months while they built a temporary church and college on the corner of Hayes and Shrader Streets. During this time, Mrs. Welch moved to her country house in Menlo Park and continued to provide financial support for the Jesuits of San Francisco. In 1920, Mrs. Welch donated $200,000 to the Jesuits for a faculty building next to the new St. Ignatius Church at its current location on the corner of Fulton Street and Parker Avenue. The building, appropriately named Welch Hall, served as the residence of the Jesuit Community from 1921 to 1959 and as the residence of the St. Ignatius High School Jesuit staff until it was demolished in 1970. Bertha Welch died in 1922, and a Requiem Mass was celebrated for her in St. Ignatius Church by Archbishop Edward Hanna of San Francisco. Today on the University of San Francisco campus, the large expanse of grass between St. Ignatius Church and Campion Hall, where the Jesuit residence once stood, is named in honor of Bertha Welch.
Mother of Berthe Marion (1873-1950), Charles James (1875- ), Andrew Pim (1878-1975), Aloysius Joseph "Louis" Welch. Her husband Andrew Welch was very successful in the sugar industry and upon his early death in 1989 left an estate in excess of one million dollars according to the newspapers. After donations to charities Berthe inherited half of the estate the rest going in trust for her four minor children.
By the turn of the century she was living in a 57 room mansion at 1090 Eddy ST, San Francisco, CA.
She was a major patron of the Catholic Church. Following the death of her husband, Mrs. Welch gave sizeable gifts from her inherited estate to St. Ignatius Church and College and to various Catholic charities in San Francisco. One of the first charities assisted by Mrs. Welch was the Francesca Society of San Francisco, named after Saint Frances of Rome and dedicated to distributing clothing and food to poor families in San Francisco.
In April 1890, Mrs. Welch made her first direct contribution to St. Ignatius Church. It was for $50,000, and it enabled Aloysius Varsi, S.J., prefect of St. Ignatius Church, to add substantially to the art, paintings, stained glass windows, sculpture, and other decorations of the church. Mrs. Welch soon gave another $50,000 to the church for the purchase of one of the finest church organs in America, referred to by one newspaper as the "King of Instruments." In 1898, the president of St. Ignatius College, John Frieden, S.J., appealed to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Louis Martin, to grant Mrs. Welch a rare honor: to be designated a benefactor of the Society of Jesus and "admitted to a share in all the good works performed by the Jesuit Order." Fr. Martin agreed to this request.
When the earthquake and fire struck San Francisco on April 18, 1906, Mrs. Welch was in New York. When she learned of the destruction of St. Ignatius Church and College, she immediately telegraphed Fr. Frieden, offering the Jesuits her mansion on Eddy Street as a temporary residence. Eighteen Jesuits from the displaced Jesuit community soon moved into her home, established a temporary chapel, and lived there for the next five months while they built a temporary church and college on the corner of Hayes and Shrader Streets. During this time, Mrs. Welch moved to her country house in Menlo Park and continued to provide financial support for the Jesuits of San Francisco. In 1920, Mrs. Welch donated $200,000 to the Jesuits for a faculty building next to the new St. Ignatius Church at its current location on the corner of Fulton Street and Parker Avenue. The building, appropriately named Welch Hall, served as the residence of the Jesuit Community from 1921 to 1959 and as the residence of the St. Ignatius High School Jesuit staff until it was demolished in 1970. Bertha Welch died in 1922, and a Requiem Mass was celebrated for her in St. Ignatius Church by Archbishop Edward Hanna of San Francisco. Today on the University of San Francisco campus, the large expanse of grass between St. Ignatius Church and Campion Hall, where the Jesuit residence once stood, is named in honor of Bertha Welch.
Arrived in America in early 1850s. Married Andrew Pim Welch (1838-1889).
Mother of Berthe Marion (1873-1950), Charles James (1875- ), Andrew Pim (1878-1975), Aloysius Joseph "Louis" Welch. Her husband Andrew Welch was very successful in the sugar industry and upon his early death in 1989 left an estate in excess of one million dollars according to the newspapers. After donations to charities Berthe inherited half of the estate the rest going in trust for her four minor children.
By the turn of the century she was living in a 57 room mansion at 1090 Eddy ST, San Francisco, CA.
She was a major patron of the Catholic Church. Following the death of her husband, Mrs. Welch gave sizeable gifts from her inherited estate to St. Ignatius Church and College and to various Catholic charities in San Francisco. One of the first charities assisted by Mrs. Welch was the Francesca Society of San Francisco, named after Saint Frances of Rome and dedicated to distributing clothing and food to poor families in San Francisco.
In April 1890, Mrs. Welch made her first direct contribution to St. Ignatius Church. It was for $50,000, and it enabled Aloysius Varsi, S.J., prefect of St. Ignatius Church, to add substantially to the art, paintings, stained glass windows, sculpture, and other decorations of the church. Mrs. Welch soon gave another $50,000 to the church for the purchase of one of the finest church organs in America, referred to by one newspaper as the "King of Instruments." In 1898, the president of St. Ignatius College, John Frieden, S.J., appealed to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Louis Martin, to grant Mrs. Welch a rare honor: to be designated a benefactor of the Society of Jesus and "admitted to a share in all the good works performed by the Jesuit Order." Fr. Martin agreed to this request.
When the earthquake and fire struck San Francisco on April 18, 1906, Mrs. Welch was in New York. When she learned of the destruction of St. Ignatius Church and College, she immediately telegraphed Fr. Frieden, offering the Jesuits her mansion on Eddy Street as a temporary residence. Eighteen Jesuits from the displaced Jesuit community soon moved into her home, established a temporary chapel, and lived there for the next five months while they built a temporary church and college on the corner of Hayes and Shrader Streets. During this time, Mrs. Welch moved to her country house in Menlo Park and continued to provide financial support for the Jesuits of San Francisco. In 1920, Mrs. Welch donated $200,000 to the Jesuits for a faculty building next to the new St. Ignatius Church at its current location on the corner of Fulton Street and Parker Avenue. The building, appropriately named Welch Hall, served as the residence of the Jesuit Community from 1921 to 1959 and as the residence of the St. Ignatius High School Jesuit staff until it was demolished in 1970. Bertha Welch died in 1922, and a Requiem Mass was celebrated for her in St. Ignatius Church by Archbishop Edward Hanna of San Francisco. Today on the University of San Francisco campus, the large expanse of grass between St. Ignatius Church and Campion Hall, where the Jesuit residence once stood, is named in honor of Bertha Welch.
Mother of Berthe Marion (1873-1950), Charles James (1875- ), Andrew Pim (1878-1975), Aloysius Joseph "Louis" Welch. Her husband Andrew Welch was very successful in the sugar industry and upon his early death in 1989 left an estate in excess of one million dollars according to the newspapers. After donations to charities Berthe inherited half of the estate the rest going in trust for her four minor children.
By the turn of the century she was living in a 57 room mansion at 1090 Eddy ST, San Francisco, CA.
She was a major patron of the Catholic Church. Following the death of her husband, Mrs. Welch gave sizeable gifts from her inherited estate to St. Ignatius Church and College and to various Catholic charities in San Francisco. One of the first charities assisted by Mrs. Welch was the Francesca Society of San Francisco, named after Saint Frances of Rome and dedicated to distributing clothing and food to poor families in San Francisco.
In April 1890, Mrs. Welch made her first direct contribution to St. Ignatius Church. It was for $50,000, and it enabled Aloysius Varsi, S.J., prefect of St. Ignatius Church, to add substantially to the art, paintings, stained glass windows, sculpture, and other decorations of the church. Mrs. Welch soon gave another $50,000 to the church for the purchase of one of the finest church organs in America, referred to by one newspaper as the "King of Instruments." In 1898, the president of St. Ignatius College, John Frieden, S.J., appealed to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Louis Martin, to grant Mrs. Welch a rare honor: to be designated a benefactor of the Society of Jesus and "admitted to a share in all the good works performed by the Jesuit Order." Fr. Martin agreed to this request.
When the earthquake and fire struck San Francisco on April 18, 1906, Mrs. Welch was in New York. When she learned of the destruction of St. Ignatius Church and College, she immediately telegraphed Fr. Frieden, offering the Jesuits her mansion on Eddy Street as a temporary residence. Eighteen Jesuits from the displaced Jesuit community soon moved into her home, established a temporary chapel, and lived there for the next five months while they built a temporary church and college on the corner of Hayes and Shrader Streets. During this time, Mrs. Welch moved to her country house in Menlo Park and continued to provide financial support for the Jesuits of San Francisco. In 1920, Mrs. Welch donated $200,000 to the Jesuits for a faculty building next to the new St. Ignatius Church at its current location on the corner of Fulton Street and Parker Avenue. The building, appropriately named Welch Hall, served as the residence of the Jesuit Community from 1921 to 1959 and as the residence of the St. Ignatius High School Jesuit staff until it was demolished in 1970. Bertha Welch died in 1922, and a Requiem Mass was celebrated for her in St. Ignatius Church by Archbishop Edward Hanna of San Francisco. Today on the University of San Francisco campus, the large expanse of grass between St. Ignatius Church and Campion Hall, where the Jesuit residence once stood, is named in honor of Bertha Welch.
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