David Mitchell "Turtle" Welsch

David Mitchell “Turtle” Welsch, 72, of Seguin, was born in New Braunfels, Texas to Evelyn and Kenneth Welsch on February 5, 1951, and died on May 7, 2023, in Leander, Texas. From his mother he inherited his creativity, humor, and sense of fun and from his father came his organizational skills, work ethic, and ability to work with people. At the age of 7 months David was taken off the roof of the family home near Solms during the 1952 flood on the Dry Comal. Water would later become the center of his 44+ year career with GBRA. He helped bring water to portions of Western Comal County, Kendall County, Bexar County and the City of Boerne and the City of Fair Oaks Ranch. Following the floods of 1998 and 2002 he directed the floods’ recovery projects. Since 1973 he served as the primary community contact for every public flood response, including the major floods of 1998, 2002 and 2004. As a licensed Texas real estate broker he helped negotiate the purchase of thousands of acres of land for GBRA projects. Upon graduation from West Columbia High School in 1969, David attended Texas Lutheran College on a football scholarship and became known to everyone as “Turtle”. Here he met and married his wife of over 50 years, Carol Burns. Fresh out of TLC, David was hired by GBRA and became involved in the Seguin community. His boundless energy and desire to help people found him volunteering and serving as President of the Seguin/Guadalupe County Chamber of Commerce, the Guadalupe County Appraisal District and The Guadalupe County American Heart Association. In his Seguin Chamber President’s speech he would state, “I believe service is the price you have to pay for the place you occupy.” He would be awarded the Seguin Chamber Outstanding Community Service Award in 1987. David’s church, Faith Lutheran, was important to him. He played on the church softball team, served on numerous committees over the years, taught Sunday School classes, served as Sunday School Superintendent for years, was a Junior High Youth Group sponsor, and served as the Church Council President. David liked to play as much as he liked to work. He was a regular at The Oak for decades. Many practical jokes were played on friends as well as always being ready to lend a helping hand. He was a great storyteller and humorist. These qualities and his wit helped him become a popular speaker and Master of Ceremonies for events. When his daughters, Devon and Whitney, became old enough to participate in sports and school activities, David joined them. He earned his 2nd Dan black Belt with Whitney and later taught a karate class at TLU. He became a Seguin Youth Soccer coach and would later become a FIFA level 8 referee and USST certified soccer referee. In 1996 he lobbied the Seguin ISD School Board to initiate the Girls Soccer Program which had its inaugural season in 1997. From 1995-1999 he coached Girls Under 14 Teams to help build a base of players to support the program. In the early 1990’s Odyssey of the Mind was introduced into the Seguin schools and his girls were on elementary teams. David felt the creativity and problem solving challenges were so beneficial to students that he coached a high school team for several years and later judged. During this period of his life David found additional outlets for his endless energy and diverse scope of interests. He played the guitar at weddings, learned to play the fiddle, rebuilt a Ferguson tractor and a Jeep, began learning German, built a shop from the ground up, helped friends with construction projects, became interested in cooking, led the Grand March at weddings, and created a logo that would be used by GBRA. In the early 2000’s David work was centered in New Braunfels. Here he became a Life Member of the New Braunfels Chamber. He enjoyed his Blue Coat duties, meeting more people and becoming involved in the community. Serving on the United Way of Comal County Board, he was named Volunteer of the Year in 2005 and 2006. Following Hurricane Rita, David volunteered to oversee the formation of the Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD). His skill as a facilitator to bring diverse groups together made Red Cross certified shelters available in Comal County and enabled local aid groups to qualify for federal reimbursements due to the VOAD formation. David was selected for the 2007 New Braunfels Chamber’s Chair of the Board Award in the Field of Humanitarian Service for his efforts. During this time David became an Opa with The Wurstfest Association. He enjoyed serving on the various committees and as a director. The festival would become his favorite 10 days of each year as he attended daily – working, drinking beer, eating the German food, dancing with Carol, and sharing “Der Gemutlichkeit”. He became an official Opa (German for grandfather) upon the birth of his first grandchild, Toren, who was followed 3 years later by Gabrielle. These should have been the best years of his life as he anticipated retirement, more time with his family, travel, and all the projects he had planned. However, the rapids in his river of life had different plans. David was diagnosed with Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA), a rare dementia, and homonymous hemianopsia, which combined made it difficult to read and write, work with his tools, navigate through space, and recognize people. Even in the last year of his life at an Alzheimer’s memory facility he was still telling stories, teaching the Chicken Dance, singing, yodeling, and dancing with the staff. David is predeceased by his brother, Craig, and his parents. Survivors include his wife, Carol; daughters, Devon Scheuer and Whitney Reese and wife Jamie; grandchildren, Toren and Gabrielle Scheuer; sister, Karen Cringle and husband David; sisters-in-law, Karen Bloomquist and husband Glynn and Kay Steinkamp and husband Fred; brother-in-law, Richard Burns and wife Sandra; cousins, nieces and nephews. Special thanks to Jason Brown at Oasis on the Meadows. A family memorial celebration will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made to: Texas Lutheran University https://www.tlu.edu Alzheimer’s Foundation of America https://alzfdn.org The Sophienburg Museum https://sophienburg.com

David Mitchell "Turtle" Welsch

February 5, 1951 - May 7, 2023