Elizabeth Rocca Welch

Elizabeth (Rocca) Welch, 99, passed away peacefully at Pleasant View Center, Concord, NH, on April 26, 2010, after a period of failing health. She was born in Milford, NH on March 8, 1911, the youngest of nine children of Federico and Elisabetta (Falsani) Rocca. She lived in Milford for 87 years, moving to Pleasant View Retirement Community in Concord, NH in 1998 to be close to her daughter. A talented, self-taught musician, Elizabeth played several instruments including accordion, organ, piano, and keyboard. During World War II she entertained at several veterans’ hospitals. She was an active volunteer for twenty-six years at two Milford nursing homes. She was a past president of the Harley Sanford Post #4368 V.F.W. Auxiliary and was town, district and State musician for the V.F.W. Auxiliary. In 1989, she was featured on a NH Public Television special entitled “The Many Faces of New Hampshire,” in which she represented the Italian-American community. She enjoyed entertaining people, gardening, crocheting, baking bread and cookies, Scrabble, crossword puzzles, and making holiday wreaths from greens gathered in local woods, a skill she learned as a child growing up in an Italian family. Elizabeth was predeceased by her husband of fifty-three years, Stephen L. Welch, who died in 1992. She leaves two daughters, Priscilla W. Gemmill of Concord, and Stephanie J. Hammonds of Jamaica Plain, MA; five grandsons, Jeffrey G. Arnold of Bangkok, Thailand, John H. Arnold of Los Angeles, Matthew G. Arnold of Amherst, Stephen L. Hammonds of Jamaica Plain, MA, and Evan L. Hammonds of Watertown, MA; four great-grandchildren, Aidan and Madeline Arnold of Amherst and Edward and Elena Hammonds of Watertown, MA, and several nieces and nephews. There are no calling hours. A graveside service will be held in Riverside Cemetery, Milford, at the convenience of the family.