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Person

Don Welke

Also Don Welke · Donald Welke · Donus E. Welke

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypePerson
Born1929-09-27
Died2010-11-15
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Person
Born
1929-09-27
Died
2010-11-15
Work
Farmer and beef-cattle raiser · Tool and die maker; automotive-parts company partner, Archbold, Ohio
Siblings
William P. "Bill" Welke
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
agriculturecommunityconservationenvironment
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

Donus E. Welke (1929–2010), known on Beaver Island as Don Welke, moved to the island with his wife, Dolores “Dora,” and son Donny in 1961, farmed near Round Lake, and kept a farm and hunting property on the island for the rest of his life while his primary residence, from 1962 on, was Archbold, Ohio. He was a brother of William P. “Bill” Welke and part of the family behind Island Airways.

History

The June 1961 Beacon reports that Mr. and Mrs. Don Welke and son Donny, formerly of Walled Lake, Michigan, had moved to Beaver Island and that Mr. Welke planned to farm and raise beef cattle. By December 1961 the paper places the Welke family “standing outside their farm home about a half mile” from Round Lake, when a goose Rogers Carlisle had wounded fell dead near their house — “Don and family received their Thanksgiving dinner by Air Express,” as the Beacon put it. The following January, Welke joined Rogers Carlisle, Archie Minor, Alvin and Archie LaFreniere, and Karl Kuebler in a three-day coyote hunt that used hounds brought to the island from Indian River and Rogers City.

By June 1962 the paper reported “Dora and Don Welke” had moved to “Wixon [Wixom], Michigan where Don has accepted a position,” with a classified in the same issue listing his new address as Wixom. The Island connection was not severed: he continued to appear in the Beacon for the next five decades — planting pheasants on his farm in August 1974 (an August 2004 “Thirty Years Ago” retrospective locates the farm “south of the airport”), snowshoeing after coyote-killed deer in a 1962 winter report, taking the largest buck of the 1986 deer season (reported March 1987), winning a hand-made knife at a January 2002 raffle, and donating gravel for a Ball Field easement in October 1992. A January 1989 article on Island Airways’ origins identifies “Don Welke, Bill’s brother” as the one who encouraged Bill and Paul Welke to start the aviation venture.

Donus E. Welke died November 15, 2010, at his home in Archbold, age 81. His obituary, printed in the Beacon’s December 2010 “In Memory” column, gives his birth as September 27, 1929, at Detroit, names his parents as William and Elizabeth (Oberle) Welke, and records his marriage to Dolores Hulack on June 21, 1952. It states he had been an Archbold-area resident since 1962, matching the 1962 Beacon report of the move, and that he was a tool-and-die maker who partnered in an automotive-parts company there in 1970.

Significance

Don Welke represents a recurring island pattern: a family that put down farm roots on Beaver Island, then relocated its primary residence to the mainland while keeping the island property and returning for decades of seasonal farming, hunting, and civic life recorded in the Beacon. His brother’s family, in turn, founded Island Airways.

Evidence and limits

The identity bridge across the 1961–2010 span rests on several converging points rather than one document: the 1962 “Dora and Don Welke” move-away notice names a wife whose name is a plausible short form of “Dolores,” the wife named in the 2010 obituary; the farm on Beaver Island is referred to continuously by the same name across 1961, 1962, 1974, 1985, 1989, 1992, 2001, 2004, and 2010 issues with no indication of a second Don Welke on the island; and the January 1989 article explicitly names Don Welke as brother of William P. “Bill” Welke, whose Holy Cross Cemetery entry gives the same parents, William and Elizabeth Oberle Welke, that the 2010 obituary gives for Donus E. Welke. No single source states outright “Donus E. Welke of Archbold is the Don Welke who farmed near Round Lake in 1961,” so this identification is treated here as probable rather than established.

The obituary’s OCR text is truncated in the held source before any explicit statement connecting him to Beaver Island; the connection here rests on his obituary running in the Beaver Beacon under “In Memory” and the “Dora”/ “Dolores” and sibling matches above, not on a sentence in the obituary itself naming the island.

Open questions

  • What source states outright that “Don Welke” of the Beacon’s 1961–2010 farm and hunting notices is Donus E. Welke of Archbold, beyond the converging wife-name, sibling, and continuous-farm evidence above?
  • Where on the island (Round Lake vicinity, “south of the airport”) did the farm sit, and did it remain in Welke family hands after 2010?

See also

Kin

William P."Bill" Welke1922 – 2002This articleDon Welke1929 – 2010
Only relations stated in the sources are drawn; absence means unrecorded, not childless or unmarried.

The dated record

5 dated events · 1929–2010These years on the timeline →

Sources

  1. Reports Mr. and Mrs. Don Welke and son Donny, formerly of Walled Lake, Michigan, moved to Beaver Island, and that Mr. Welke planned to farm and raise beef cattle.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-06_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-06_Beaver-Beacon
  3. Names Don Welke and his family, standing outside their farm home about a half mile from Round Lake, in a report about a goose Rogers Carlisle shot that fell dead near their house; the notice supports a December 1961 farm-home context but does not give a parcel location or complete family names.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-12_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-12_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Names Don Welke, alongside Rogers Carlisle, Archie Minor, Alvin and Archie LaFreniere, and Karl Kuebler, as a participant in a three-day coyote hunt using imported hounds. It does not provide a complete hunting or wildlife record.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1962-01_Beaver-Beacon
  6. The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1962-01_Beaver-Beacon
  7. Reports that Don Welke planted pheasants on his farm and that the Game News column expected to give details of their progress the following month; it supplies no farm record, planting authorization, number of birds, or follow-up outcome.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1974-08_Beaver-Beacon
  8. The held ten-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1974-08_Beaver-Beacon
  9. Reports that "Islanders will also miss Dora and Don Welke who have moved to Wixon [Wixom], Michigan where Don has accepted a position," and that a classified the same issue offers a 1926 Ford Model T for sale from "Don Welke, 3009 Wixon Road, Wixon, Mich." Names his wife as Dora, a form consistent with "Dolores," the wife named in the 2010 obituary below.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1962-06_Beaver-Beacon
  10. The held issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice; it does not expand the identity claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1962-06_Beaver-Beacon
  11. Identifies "Don Welke, Bill's brother" as the one who encouraged Bill and Paul Welke to start the aviation business that became Island Airways. Establishes Don Welke as the brother of William P. "Bill" Welke (1922-2002; Holy Cross Cemetery index, parents William & Elizabeth Oberle Welke), which matches the parents named in the November 2010 obituary below. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1989-01_Beaver-Beacon
  12. The held issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice; it does not expand the identity claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1989-01_Beaver-Beacon
  13. Beaver Beacon, December 2010, "In Memory: Don Welke."
    Obituary for Donus E. Welke, 81, of Archbold, Ohio, who died November 15, 2010; born September 27, 1929, at Detroit, son of William and Elizabeth (Oberle) Welke; married Dolores Hulack June 21, 1952; an Archbold-area resident since 1962 and a tool-and-die maker who partnered in a 1970 automotive-parts company. Names the same parents as the Holy Cross Cemetery index gives for his brother William P. "Bill" Welke, and the obituary's placement in the Beacon under "In Memory" confirms his standing as a long-documented part-time Beaver Island resident. The OCR excerpt held here is cut off before any Beaver Island biographical detail or military branch/theater is given. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2010-12_Beaver-Beacon
  14. The held issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published obituary; it does not expand the identity claims beyond what the OCR text gives.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 2010-12_Beaver-Beacon
  15. Reports Don Welke among islanders who snowshoed to Sand Bay lake and found a coyote-killed deer.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1962-04_Beaver-Beacon
  16. Reports the largest buck of the prior deer season, a 10-point taken by Don Welke, in a Shamrock tally of island deer kills. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1987-03_Beaver-Beacon
  17. Reports Don Welke among the winners of hand-made knives at a raffle drawing. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2002-01_Beaver-Beacon
  18. Records township acceptance of a Don Welke donation of gravel for a Ball Field easement. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1992-10_Beaver-Beacon
  19. Beaver Beacon, August 2004, "Thirty Years Ago."
    Retrospective column reprinting the August 1974 pheasant-planting notice and locating the farm "south of the airport." No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2004-08_Beaver-Beacon

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Don Welke”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/people/don-welke/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, June 1961, “New Island Residents.” (and 18 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-04. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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