Dorothy Elizabeth (Groeninger) Welsh

Services for Cedarville resident Dorothy Elizabeth (Groeninger) Welsh will be held Monday, March 28 at 11 a.m. at Kerr Mortuary in Alturas. Dr. Ben Zandstra will officiate. Interment will be in Fair Oaks, CA.

Mrs. Welsh passed away March 21, 2005 in Cedarville, CA.

Dorothy was born October 24, 1915 to Jacob and Irma Groeninger in Evansville, Indiana. She graduated from Bosse High School in Evansville, Indiana at age 16. She was too young to be admitted into Nurses' Training but when old enough, she attended Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing. She completed her training there and worked as a staff nurse and shift supervisor in several hospitals in both Indiana and California.

In 1937, she married Ora E. Toole, a co-worker at the hospital at which she worked at that time. This marriage produced her only two children, David and Carolyn. In about 1947, the family moved "to the country" and purchased a combination grocery store/barber shop. Dorothy ran the grocery business and her husband the barbershop. After a few years, Dorothy returned to a nursing position. After her husband passed away in 1959, and her son finished high school and Carolyn college in 1963, she moved to California with her son. Soon after, a friend introduced her to Ivo Nelson. They married in 1964 and remained in the Bay area until he retired and they settled in Rio Linda, A. Ivo preceded Dorothy in death in 1982. She then met and married Art Welsh and moved to Modoc County in 1984.

While here, she started a Good Sam Chapter called the "Modocers." She and Art loved to travel in the U.S. and Canada and became full-time RV'ers when they joined the "Escapees." They spent some time in Lakeview, New Mexico until Art passed away in 2000. Dorothy returned to Cedarville and lived in her fifth wheel until moving into Surprise Valley Hospital where she passed away. Dorothy was a member of Eastern Star for over 50 years. She is survived by her son David Toole and wife Michele of San Bruno, CA; daughter Carolyn and husband Lou Olson of Ft. Bidwell, CA; six grandchildren Rod, Dave, Stephanie and Jason Toole all of the Bay Area; Heather and Stuart Travis and Kim Abraham of Cedarville, CA.; four great-grandchildren: Allie in Bay area, Jordyn and Taylor Travis and Summer Abraham in Cedarville.