Archie Earl Welch
1920-2004

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 4 at Brune & Buck 
Mortuary Chapel in Bishop for 44-year Big Pine area resident Archie Earl Welch.  
Rev. Caddy Jackson will officiate.  Interment will take place at the East Line 
Street Cemetery.  Additionally, there will be visitation on Friday, Dec. 3 from 
noon-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.

Born Aug. 3, 1920 in Pitcher, Okla. to Fred and Cecil Welch, Archie died Nov. 
28, 2004 at home in big Pine.  He was 84.

Archie was a member of American legion Post No.457 in Big Pine and a member of 
Operating Engineers.  Archie was a truck driver for the Civilian Conservation 
Corps in October 1937.  He enlisted in the U.S. Army on Oct. 17, 1939 at Ft. 
McArthur, Calif. And later received the Asiatic Pacific Theater Service Medal, 
Asiatic Pacific Defense Medal, American Defense Service medal and the Good 
Conduct Medal.  Archie was honorably discharged at Ft. Bragg on May 15, 1945.

He married Helen Williamson Roberts on July 3, 1948 in Goldfield, Nev.  The 
couple had two boys, Bill Roberts and Gary Welch.  Archie, Helen and the boys 
moved from Southgate Calif. to Big Pine in January of 1949.

They opened Welch's Pancake House in Big Pine in 1950, in Bishop in 1963 and in 
Mammoth in 1965.  During this time, Archie was co-owner of Pete Bolt and Archie 
Brady Big Pine Trucking Company.  He also worked for Jim Nickolaus, Turner 
Propane and Inyo Lumber as a truck driver.  He also owned and worked gold mines 
in Manhatten, Nev.  He moved to Lake Havasu, Ariz. in the 1970s and returned to 
Big Pine in 1991 after the passing of Helen.  Archie married Vivienne Chance-
Bice on Aug. 20, 1991 in Tonopah, Nev.

He was preceded in death by his father and mother, Frank and Cecil Welch; first 
wife, Helen Welch; brother, Fred Welch; and sisters Nedra, Ruth and Della.

Arthur is survived by his wife, Vivienne Welch of Big Pine; sister and brother, 
Mary and Ben Cousin of Lake Havasu, Ariz.; son and daughter-in-law, Gary and 
Noreen Welch of Prescott, Ariz.; daughter, Dianne Bice-Bolander of Ridgecrest; 
daughter and son-in-law, Shirley and Jack Booth of Rising Star, Texas; daughter 
and son-in-law, Marilyn and Larry Brolsma of Bishop; daughter and son-in-law, 
Carolyn and Ernie L'Heureux of New Plymouth, Idaho; 14 grandchildren; 23 great-
grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; sister and brother-in-law, Hal 
and Doris Halstead; sister-in-law Marianne Imus of Fontana; and many nieces, 
nephews and friends.

The Inyo Register
Bishop, Inyo County, California
Tuesday, November 30, 2004 – Page A-2.

Transcribed by Laura M. Bybee for Inyo County GenWeb, 6 June 2005