Jacalea Welch

Jacalea Dawn WelchJul 25, 1933-October 2026

Jacalea Dawn Welch, beloved mother, teacher, musical and theatrical performer, patron of the arts, tennis and world travel and all-around funny lady, passed away peacefully on October 4 at age 93 in the company of her family.

Born in 1933 in Santa Monica California, “Jacque” attended local schools and Santa Monica City College and was a big fan of the Santa Monica Pier. Subsequently she attended San Jose State in the 1950s for an English degree. She was a lifetime member of Alpha Chi Omega and a specialist in Japanese flower arranging. During her years at San Jose State, she was also an exchange student to Guadalajara, Mexico for six months. This experience contributed to her ability and fondness for helping migrant and bilingual children in later years, still teaching well into her ’70’s.

Working as a schoolteacher in Santa Clara County after university, she met the love of her life, Timothy Welch, while acting together in “Babes In Arms” at the Comedia in Palo Alto. Tim was finishing a Masters Degree at Stanford. After starting a family and living in Santa Clara and Fresno for a time, they relocated to Aptos, where Jacque raised four children and worked again as a teacher for many years in the Pajaro Valley School District, while Tim worked at Cabrillo College. She was an active participant and volunteer in the Cabrillo Music Festival and Stage Programs, hosting visiting musicians in her home and acting in various musicals, including Oklahoma, The Music Man, and Never Too Late. She shared the stage in a musical with Jesse White, the “Maytag Repairman” of 1970s-80s television. Mother was also a fine piano player in her time and played and sang many numbers for family and students. Her rendition of “The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin was especially memorable and she was occasionally known to pick up the ukelele or zither for even more fun.

Jacque and husband Tim were founding members of the Tennis Club of Rio Del Mar and tennis tournament fans throughout their lives, even attending Wimbledon, the French Open and the Italian Open in 1975 during a six-month family sabbatical to Europe. Their mutual love of music, theater and travel resulted in trips to Ashland (on their honeymoon), Broadway, London’s theater district and a multitude of international cruise ship adventures with friends from Aptos.

But what we might remember most about “Mom” is how tirelessly she helped us four kids with our schoolwork, how endlessly she shuttled us between home and all the school, sports, music, scouting, ballet and other events that are part of growing up; and how she produced, each year, memorable multi-generational family Thanksgiving and Christmas events, with an abundance of carefully, colorfully-wrapped gifts for all. We’ll never forget!

Jacque was predeceased by her husband Timothy in 2018 and is survived by her four children.