Green White lost one of our most valuable members over the weekend--Joe Welk. He was just a few days shy of his 49th birthday. Joe was more than just a member of the club. All four of Joe's kids played for Green White, and he was a tireless volunteer, willing to help out whenever and wherever he could. At the time of his passing he was the director of girls travel and the manager of two teams (the U18 girls, and the U15 boys). Over the years he has served us in so many ways, as a rec league coach, a boys and girls travel coach, the youth board treasurer, and the boys league director.
But Joe was so much more than that. He was a constant calming presence, always there to greet players and parents with a smile and a kind comment. He was beloved by his players, his fellow board members, and his fellow coaches, managers, and parents. Losing Joe is a big loss to our club, but it's obviously an even a bigger loss to his wonderful family. Green White sends our love and support to the Welk Family; Melissa, Michelle, Kimberly, Ashley & Chris. We intend to honor Joe next season, and we'll be announcing how we plan on doing that at our Christmas party.
In the meantime, we've been flooded with people asking about funeral arrangements, and asking what can be done to help the Welk family. The arrangements are as follows...
Visitation Thursday December 14, 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Friedrichs Funeral Home, 320 W. Central Rd., (at Northwest Highway) Mt. Prospect, IL 60056.
Funeral Friday, December 15, 9:30 a.m. from the Funeral Home to St. Emily Church, 1400 E. Central Rd., Mt. Prospect, IL 60056 Funeral Mass 10:00 a.m.
(His obituary is here)
The U18 girls team is leading the way in starting up a GoFundMe page to help out the Welk Family. Click here to contribute.
This photo was taken last summer in Germany. Joe's on the far left. I'm on the far right. Gonna miss him a lot.
