Virginia Callan Welder, an extraordinarily bright, talented, engaging, humorous, generous, and gracious Victorian, passed away on April 28, 2022, at age 95, and is now reunited for eternity with her beloved “Leo”.
Virginia was born in Fort Worth on October 17, 1926, to the late William Bevans Callan and Corinne Richards Callan, better known to family members as Corinne and Big Bevans. The Callan family moved to Victoria in 1937 and soon after Virginia met the love of her life, Leo J Welder. Virginia graduated from Patti Welder High School, where she was voted “Most Beautiful” her senior year, and The University of Texas, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. Virginia and Leo married on June 21, 1947. With Leo’s death in 1996, Virginia became the matriarch of the branch of the Welder family known as J. F. Welder Heirs. She was without question this branch’s biggest cheerleader and unifying force. Everyone loved Aunt Virginia.
Virginia was a past president of the Junior Service League of Victoria, a member of the alumni club of Pi Beta Phi, and she and Leo were among the first parishioners of Our Lady of Victory Cathedral. Virginia also earned the distinction of Life Master (Duplicate Bridge) in 2010. One of Virginia’s proudest moments was when the board of directors of the Victoria Performing Arts Center voted to name its facility in downtown Victoria the Leo J. Welder Center for the Performing Arts.
Virginia believed one of the keys to a long and happy life was traveling often with family and friends and she pursued this with abandon. Virginia was ever the optimist and a living example that laughter is indeed the best medicine. She loved a good joke and could “weave a tale” as few can. She was known equally for her clever Christmas cards, stunning needlepoint, and mayhem in the kitchen. Virginia once said she was “One of the luckiest Dames to have ever walked down the path.”
Virginia is survived by her 6 children: Jimmy (Karen) Welder, Smithy (Judy) Welder, Bevans (Anne) Welder, Bet Welder, Roger (Donna) Welder, Lucy (Ed) Welder Beshara, 14 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and her cherished cat, Velcro. She was preceded in death by her sister, Mary Callan Hamel.
The life of Virginia Callan Welder will be celebrated at a Mass of the Resurrection on May 5, 2022, at 10:00 a.m., at The Cathedral of Our Lady of Victory, 1309 E Mesquite Lane, Victoria, Texas, followed by a graveside service at the Catholic Cemetery #3.
Memorial donations may be made to St. Joseph High School (Tribute Gifts) http://www.stjvictoria.com/giving/tribute_gifts.cfm; Our Lady of Victory Cathedral (Memorials), https://www.osvhub.com/olvcathedral/giving/funds/memorials; Victoria College Foundation (Honorariums/Memorials for the Leo J. Welder Center for the Performing Arts) https://victoriacollegefoundation.org/ways-to-give/#donations; or a charity of your choice.
To share a fond memory or words of comfort visit www.rosewoodfuneralchapel.com.
