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Dec. 28—By Jacques Kelly — jkelly@baltsun.com
PUBLISHED:December 28, 2023 at 12:46 p.m.| UPDATED:December 29, 2023 at 9:02 p.m.
Agnes Welch, a former member of the Baltimore City Council from West Baltimore recalled for her constituent service, died Tuesday at University of Maryland Medical Center.
She was 99 and lived for more than 65 years on Mosher Street in the Rosemont section of West Baltimore.
For 27 years Ms. Welch represented West and Southwest Baltimore on the city council, including Poppleton, Rosemont and Sandtown neighborhoods.
"Agnes was a savvy old-school council member," said former Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke. "Constituent service was her real joy."
Born Agnes Myers in Baltimore, she was a Frederick Douglass High School graduate and earned a degree at Morgan State University.
She became a social worker who was also interested in politics.
"She didn't have a car and rode buses and walked through her districts," said her son, William "Pete" Welch.
Ms. Welch liked politics and served as a delegate to the 1980 Democratic Convention and a member of the Democratic State Central Committee.
She considered running for a city council seat but was not allied with any of the established political clubs. She ran on her own in 1979 as an independent Democrat.
An Evening Sun profile published that year said she was "known in the Rosemont sector where she was chair of the multipurpose center, a strong influence in the conversion of Lutheran Hospital to community health care, a determined fighter for the mayor's station ... and a general force for good in the Rosemont-Edmondson Village area."
The article described her as "an organized campaigner" with lists of registered voters, maps and socio-economic data.
"A visit to Welch headquarters on Edmondson near Poplar Grove allays any notion Agnes Welch is a babe in the political thicket," The Sun said.
In that primary, she finished what The Sun called a "strong fifth" in a field of nine. She hung in and in 1983 campaigned again.
This time was the charm.
Ms. Welch was elected to one of three seats in the old 4th District alongside Michael Mitchell and Kweisi Mfume.
In that election she picked up an important endorsement from Victorine Quille Adams, who was the first Black woman to serve on the city council. Ms. Adams was the wife of prominent businessman and venture capitalist William L. "Willie" Adams, who was a partner in numerous Black-owned businesses.
In a 2010 interview in The Afro-American, Ms. Welch said her popularity came "because I was with the people. I was hands on. They knew where I live. They called me at home. They see me."
Former Mayor Martin O'Malley remembered Ms. Welch's humor and hard work.
"Agnes was sharp and politically savvy," said Mr. O'Malley, who went on to become Maryland's governor. "She had a real work ethic and worked hard for the people who called her."
"She had a dry sense of humor too," Mr. O'Malley said. "You'd walk away from her and then realize the joke she's made."
Former Mayor Jack Young recalled how Ms. Welch summoned him to her office when he was newly elected.
"She said, 'I need to talk to you.' She then schooled me in the do's and don'ts of the office. She was a wealth of knowledge," Mr. Young said. "She was a dynamic person who cared deeply about the City of Baltimore."
Lawrence Bell was 25 years old when he was elected to the city council.
"Agnes was something of a political godmother to me," Mr. Bell said. "She inspired me but she also taught me the importance of going to every neighborhood or political club meeting."
"She told me to get to know my district better than the people who lived there," Mr. Bell said.
Other colleagues recalled her candor.
"You could go to the bank on what she said," said former council member Rikki Spector, who sat beside Ms. Welch at City Hall. "I admired her honesty. She told you just what she meant."
"Agnes was a religious and caring woman," former city council member Nick D'Adamo said. "She was like everyone's second mother on the council. She called us all son and daughter. She never spoke a negative word."
Ms. Welch served as chairwoman of the council committees on aging and urban affairs. She conducted numerous urban renewal hearings during her tenure.
In the spring of 2010 she led a group of senior citizens to protest when then-Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake threatened to eliminate the budget for the Baltimore City Recreation and Parks senior programs. The funds were restored.
"Agnes was forthright and honest," former Councilman Anthony "Tony" Ambridge said. "She thought her job first was constituent service. She was a champion for the people of West Baltimore."
Ms. Welch retired from the City Council at age 86. At that time, fellow council members voted to allow her son to complete her term.
"I won't be sitting beside you, but I will be watching over you," Welch told the council at a gathering to honor her retirement in December 2010. "I might be leaving the office and the title, but I'll never leave the work."
She served on the board of the Bon Secours Foundation and was a member of the Downtown Partnership, the Mid-Town Belvedere Association. Pope John Paul II awarded her the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal.
Survivors include her son and a granddaughter, Tiffany Welch.
Funeral arrangements are not complete. The family is planning a service to be held in early January at St. Edward's Roman Catholic Church, where Ms. Welch was an active member.
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