15 Facts About Louie Welch

Louie Welch was an American politician who served from 1964 to 1974 as the mayor of Houston, Texas.

Louie Welch's father, Gilford Edgar Welch, was an automobile mechanic.

Louie Welch was a member of his high school debate team and was the president of his senior class.

Louie Welch studied in Abilene, Texas, at Abilene Christian College, now Abilene Christian University, where he was a varsity cheerleader and a member of Phi Delta Psi social club.

Louie Welch was married on December 17,1940, to his first wife, Iola Faye Cure, in a ceremony performed by Homer Hailey.

At the coaxing of fellow Lions International members, Louie Welch was elected to the Houston City Council and served four two-year terms from 1950 to 1952 and then 1956 to 1962.

Louie Welch served for five consecutive two-year terms.

Louie Welch closed forty inefficient sewage treatment plants, began cleaning up the Houston Ship Channel, focused on bayou beautification; and began development of the downtown Civic Center, among other accomplishments.

Louie Welch was mayor in 1967 when two days of siege by the Houston police at predominantly black Texas Southern University.

Louie Welch's reputation came under fire because of his friendships with well known crime leaders.

In early 1985, Louie Welch was a leader in the opposition to the extension of job protection rights to homosexuals employed by the city government.

Louie Welch came back that year to run against incumbent Mayor Kathy Whitmire, who had served since 1982, in the Houston Mayoral Elections.

Louie Welch went on to defeat him in that race, remaining the city's mayor until the early 1990s.

Louie Welch died at the age of 89 from lung cancer on January 27,2008, in his north Harris County residence.

Louie Welch was survived by his wife, Helen, five children, and seventeen grandchildren, four stepchildren and four step-grandchildren.