ACU board member and former Houston mayor loses battle with cancer

Louie Welch, member of the Abilene Christian University Board of Trustees, former Outstanding Alumnus of the Year, former Houston mayor and longtime civic leader, died Sunday, Jan. 27 in Houston. He was 89.

"Mayor Welch was a man who seemed bigger than life," said Dr. Jack Griggs, professor of business at ACU. "Even though he was accustom to the power of big-city politics, he spent multiple summers teaching 18 to 22 year-old students on the ACU campus, He did so with great humility and a sense of servanthood. He gave himself to ACU students with generosity and gentleness. He is memorialized on the ACU campus by a large endowment funding into perpetuity the Louie Welch Chair of Management."

Welch was born in Lockney, Texas on Dec. 9, 1918. He graduated from high school in Slaton in 1936, and earned a bachelor's degree in history from ACU with honors in 1940. Welch also received honorary doctorates from Lubbock Christian University, Oklahoma Christian University, Pepperdine University and ACU.

In 1965, Welch was named ACU's Outstanding Alumnus of the Year. He served in many leadership roles in organizations including as vice president of the National League of Cities from 1970-73, former president and CEO of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, and the first holder of the Louie Welch Chair of Business and Management in ACU's College of Business Administration. Welch was appointed to ACU's Board of Trustees in 1953 where he served for more than 50 years.

"We are deeply saddened by the death of Louie Welch, one of ACU's great ambassadors,” said Dr. Rick Lytle, dean of the College of Business Administration at ACU. "Over the years, his leadership efforts on behalf of ACU and the College of Business Administration helped enhance and enrich an ever-forward looking vision for this campus and its reach around the world."

Best known for his political career, Welch served as the mayor of Houston from 1964-74, serving five consecutive terms.

"As mayor of the city of Houston. Louie Welch provided leadership during some very important years as that city grew in importance as one of the major U.S. cities," said Dr, Gary McCaleb, vice president of ACU and former mayor of Abilene. "Throughout those years and all the other years since his student years at ACU, Louie Welch has always been loyal and active in his involvement as an alumnus."

Welch is preceded in death by his first wife, Iola Faye Cure, and is survived by his wife, Helen, and his five children and their families.

Services are scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 31 at 10:30 a.m. at the Second Baptist Church in Houston.

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