Dale Alvin Welcher

DALE ALVIN WELCHER

Mount Pleasant

Dale Alvin Welcher, 71, of Mount Pleasant, died Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, at his home in Mount Pleasant.

He was born Feb. 15, 1948, to Alvin Edward and Beulah Evelyn (Dady) Welcher in Creston. He attended school in Lockridge then in Fairfield, participating in cross country and track. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1967, discharged honorably in 1974. He served in Vietnam as a river patrol boat captain.

He attended Santa Clara County Community College and University in Santa Clara, Calif. He earned degrees in psychology, sociology and police science. He worked as a law enforcement officer. He served under President Ronald Reagan as a Deputy U.S. Marshall.

When he returned to Iowa, he married Paula Morris, providing for his family by hunting, fishing, gardening, raising animals for sale to others, factory work, truck driving, construction, as well as law enforcement.

He was a Kempo Karate Grand Master.

Dale was proud of his native American Cherokee heritage, his ordination by the Christian National Church in Seattle, his involvement in the rescue of the Apollo 9 spacecraft in the Atlantic Ocean, the trophies won by his dogs in coon dog races, to have served as Elvis Presley's body guard at a concert in Hawaii, meeting Bill Graham while in Vietnam and walking with Martin Luther King.

In August of 2008, he was united in marriage to Elizabeth (Beth) Newman. She survives.

He also is survived by his children, Melinda (Frank) Chatfield, Matthew Welcher, Monica (Harry) Ellio and Jessica Morton, all of Fairfield, Eric (Nancy) Newman of Sycamore, Ill., Evan (Becca Meerdink) Newman of Urbana, Ill., and Ethan Newman of New York, N.Y.; his mother, Beulah Welcher of Mount Pleasant; two sisters, Dolores (Tony) Beaber of Mount Pleasant and Dixie (Harold) Engle of Fairfield; 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his father, Alvin Welcher; and a grandson, Cody Chatfield.

Funeral services will be held 10 a.m. Thursday at the First Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant with Pastor Steven English officiating. Burial with military rites will be held in the Lockridge Cemetery in Lockridge.

Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the First Baptist Church with the family meeting with friends at that time.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the family in care of Beth Welcher.

Murphy Funeral Home in Mount Pleasant is handling the arrangements.