Joyce Elaine Welker, 87, died Friday, December 8, 2023, at Hospice House, Hutchinson. She was born December 25, 1935, to Marion Edwin and Vivian (Miller) Rich.
Joyce was a 1953 graduate of Nickerson High School and was a member of Sterling Bible Church.
On November 30, 1954, she married John Orva Welker at the Sterling Evangelical Mennonite Church. She was a homemaker and farm wife, living with her husband on the farm for 60 years, the same farmstead where she was born. in 2017, they moved from the farm to South Hutchinson. On November 30th they celebrated 69 years of marriage. He survives.
Also surviving are: sons, Jerel (Carol) of Lincoln, NE and Jeff (Denise) of Pretty prairie; four grandchildren, Jenny (Steven) Knoche and Jacob (Tiffany) Welker, all of Abbyville, Nate Welker of Johnston, IA, and Madison Hanau of Lincoln, NE; three great-grandchildren, Kaxton and Kolson Knoche and Tatum Welker; brother, Marvin (Jane) Rich of Sterling; sister-in-law, Betty Rich of Hutchinson.
Joyce was preceded in death by her parents and brother, Gary.
Funeral service will be 10:30 am Wednesday, December 13, 2023, and Sterling Bible Church. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Friends may call from 9 am to 8 pm on Tuesday at Elliott Mortuary, with family present from 5 to 7 pm.