Sister of Lawrence Welk Dies

"Sister of Lawrence Welk Dies." Lawrence Welk Show Musical Family News 15, no. 1: 2006, 11.

Eva Welk, the last of Lawrence Welk's siblings, died on March 10, 2006, in Aberdeen, South Dakota. She was 96 years old. Her death came, ironically, on the day before the 103`d anniversary of her famous brother's birth, and the day before the annual celebratory dinner was held in Strasburg, ND.

Eva Welk is the youngest child in this vintage photo of the Welk family of North Dakota	Eva Welk and her brothers and sisters at a family reunion in the late 1950's

Eva, the last of eight children was born on Christmas Eve, 1909, which inspired her name. She lived with her parents, Ludwig and Christina Welk, on their farm southwest of Strasburg until the 1920's, when their son Mike and his wife, Catherine, took over the farm. She moved into town with her parents and cared for them until their deaths ‑ Ludwig in 1937 and Christina in 1940.

After her mother's death, Eva moved to Aberdeen to be near her brother, John and his family. She made her living by caring for elderly people, going to their homes to cook and clean. She made an extra effort to cook what her patients wanted and her services were so popular, she had a waiting list. Eva worked as long as she could before retiring and even then she would often help other elderly people.

A Simple Life

Eva Welk was extremely proud of her older brother and his great success on national TV

Eva was a humble, quiet person, who did not drive, living near her church and a grocery store. Lawrence once commented that he "had never seen an apartment so small!" But Eva said it had plenty of room for everything she needed, which did not include much furniture. Lawrence sent her many things over the years but she always passed them on to relatives and friends.

She never married so her dozens of nieces and nephews were her children. She treasured the photos of her family, which decorated her room in the nursing home, where she lived for 11 years.

California Visits

In addition to making regular visits to see her brothers and sister in Strasburg, Eva made numerous trips to California to visit Lawrence and Fern and their family. She appeared on the March 6, 1957 episode of Ralph Edwards' "This Is Your Life," when her brother was featured and was in the audience for several of the Lawrence Welk Show tapings.