Albert Welters

Albert W. Welters, age 96 of Melrose, died peacefully surrounded by his family on Thursday, May 26, 2016 at the CentraCare Health Nursing Home in Melrose, Minnesota.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 31 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Meire Grove with Rev. Marvin Enneking officiating. Interment will be in St Mary's Cemetery in Melrose following the service.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday and from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Melrose. Parish prayers will be held at 7 p.m. Monday evening at the funeral home.

Albert William Welters was born January 4, 1920 in Saint Anthony, Minnesota to Reinhart and Mary (Bueckers) Welters. Prior to his marriage, Albert worked at the steel mills in Duluth. He was united in marriage to Bernadette "Boo" Springer on October 1, 1946 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Melrose. The couple farmed on the family farm north of Melrose until their retirement. He was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Melrose and the St. Leo Court 786 Catholic Order of Foresters in New Munich. Albert enjoyed fishing and hunting, playing cards, especially 500 and Smear, and enjoyed the activities at the nursing home such as BINGO and putting together jigsaw puzzles. He was a John Deere fanatic and was a handyman who could fix or put together anything. Albert also loved baking cookies and eating potato pancakes.

Survivors include his children, Joni Eiden of Bellingham, Washington, Kay Welters of Sauk Rapids, Marcus (Rita) Welters of Bellingham, Washington, and Janet (Ron) Zitzow of St. Cloud; 14 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren; sisters, Hildegard Frieler of Melrose, Judy (Felix) Essler of Kenmare, North Dakota, and Rosie Gregory of Belgrade; and brother, Robert Welters of Melrose.
Albert was preceded in death by his wife, Bernadette "Boo" Welters on January 1, 2011; parents; brothers, Herman and Larry Welters; and sister, Helen Wiener.

Serving as casket bearers will be Joseph Schmidt, Tom D. Eiden, Tyler Hinnenkamp, Daniel Kapsner, Steven Welters, Brandon Welters, and Troy Knafla. Cross bearer will be Brianna Hinnenkamp and scripture bearers will be Amber Schmidt and Genevieve Kapsner.