MILLER FUNERAL HOME
Anna Josephine Craft was born October 17, 1923, in Brule County, Kimball, SD, to parents DeWitt and Emma (Kuchera) Craft. She moved with her parents in 1936 to a farm north of Mitchell.She attended grade school in Davison County. Ann went to Mitchell High School, where she was active in speech, theatre, and debate work, graduating in 1942.
Ann married Wallace Welch, Christmas Eve, 1944, at the First Congregational Church in Mitchell, SD. Ann and Wallace moved to his parents' farm 3 1/2 miles east of Letcher. Their son David was born December 9, 1946. Ann was an active member in the Congregational Church, and many community boards and activities. Special times of the year included week-long trips to the State Fair during the fall and entertaining out-of-state hunters during pheasant season. Ann enjoyed her new farm home built in 1953, and helped with the farm operations. The Welch family continued to live on the farm until 1965 when they moved to Arlington, SD.
Ann and Wallace also had a cabin at Lake Poinsett, SD, where she enjoyed thirty years of lake activities with her grandchildren and friends. In 1984 they started spending winters in Arizona, In 1995 they sold their lake home and moved to a retirement community in Mesa, Arizona. Ann and Wallace returned to SD, in July of 2004 where they lived at Dow Rummel Village.
Ann is survived by her son David (Ellen), Sioux Falls; her three grandchildren: Larel Ann Jacobs (Natan), Phoenix, AZ; Eve Davelle Mann (Brian), Woodbridge, VA; Nathan Wallace Welch (Krista), Vermillion, SD; seven great grandchildren: Kellan and Donovan Jacobs: Mackenzie and Jamison Mann; Mya, Isabella and Logan Welch; one niece, Bernadine Craft, Rock Springs, WY., and many relatives and friends.
Ann was preceded in death by her husband Wallace, her parents, her brother Ralph Craft, her sister Ethel Rich, and special cousins Esther Miller, Ella McEntee, and Helen Barker.
A memorial service will be held at the Halladay-Peterson Chapel of Dow Rummel on Wednesday, September 19, at 10:30 am, with a light lunch to follow in the Gathering Hall. Interment will be in Mitchell at a later date.
Memorials may be directed to the Dow Rummel Capital Campaign or First Congregational Church Arts Ministry.
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