J. Robert Welsh

John (J.) Robert Welsh (1901 - 1990) was an electric utilities executive in northwest Louisiana. The J. Robert Welsh Power Plant is named in his honor.

Welsh was born in Peoria, Illinois, and became an executive at SWEPCO in 1940, remaining with the company until his retirement in 1971.^[1],^[2] Welsh was SWEPCO President from 1954 to 1966, and Board Chairman from 1966 to 1971. He also served as president of the Southwest Atomic Energy Associates, as director of the Texas Atomic Energy Research Foundation, and as a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Manufacturers, among numerous other roles at regional and national levels in the utilities industry.

Welsh, and his wife, Marcella, had seven children. One of his sons, John Robert "Jack" Welsh (1926 - 2005),^[3] was a Jesuit priest and his daughter, Marietta Welsh (1927 - 2017),^[4] was a Roman Catholic nun.

From 1969 to 1977, Welsh, Sr., served as the first president/chairman of the Board of Trustees of Jesuit High School of Shreveport Corporation, which provided financial oversight of Jesuit High School (now Loyola College Prep) in Shreveport, Louisiana. His son attended this institution (as St. John's High School) and later taught there (from 1959 to 1976). Welsh was also a Board member of Centenary College of Louisiana^[5]

The title of Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, one of the highest papal honors bestowed on a Roman Catholic lay person, was conferred on him in 1956 by Bishop Charles P. Greco, by direction of Pope Pius XII in honor of his exemplary Catholic faith and work as a civic leader.^[6] Welsh was active in local civic affairs and received several other secular awards and honors for his efforts. J. Robert Welsh died on July 29, 1990, at the age of 89. ^[7]

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