Special Feature: Joe Welsh PDF Print E-mail

Special Feature - Joseph (Joe) Welsh

Following up on one of our recent guestbook entries, we would like to dedicate this special feature to Joseph (Joe) Welsh - a former DJ and Station Manager at BDN KOFA in Linz.

Joe Welsh was born on March 18th, 1924 and was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His family ran a grocers on the corner of Kinsey St. and Ditman St. in Philadelpia. After graduating from Northeast Catholic High, he was drafted on his 18th birthday into the Army. While working at KOFA Joe ran an evening request program called "Telephone Serenade" in which GI's requested their favourite songs. Lee Boner from Arizona (the station manager at that time) acted as host and announcer for that show.

Joe Welsh beim Auflegen einer Transcription

(Joe Welsh putting on a Transcription disc)

In the beginning, the show was aired from a sginal corps trailer where the two received the request calls from the GIs. It was only after KOFA was given a permanent studio that they had the enclosed booth with a microphone.

In December 1948 Joe Welsh married Elfriede Inmann, a local girl from Linz who was working for an army outfit switchboard. They actually had to come back early from their honeymoon because Joe had to help fix a transmitter that had stopped working. After they were married Joe and Elfriede lived in an apartment above the mess hall. During many evenings they were able to watch movies which Elfriede credits for improving her English.

(Joe and Elfriede Welsh - the couple in the middle - with colleagues from KOFA Linz)

After the couple had moved back to Philadelphia, Joe was given a contract as station manager to work at KOFA as a civilian - so he quickly returned to Linz. He was only there for a few months before he ended his contract so that he could return to Philadelphia.

Joe and Elfriede moved to Oakford , Pennsylvania in 1951. They had four children: Joseph Jr., Patricia "Cookie", Timothy and Michael. In 1952 Joe was hired by Parker and Williams, a communications company, out of Bristol, Pennsylvania. Sadly, Joe Welsh passed away June 6th, 1964.

Elfriede Welsh keeps up memory to KOFA Linz even nowadays - she has the painting that once decorated one of KOFA's studios in Linz hanging at her house in the USA.

(KOFA Linz studio with KOFA painting above the DJ's head)

(KOFA painting at Elfriede Welsh's house today)

We would like to thank Brenna Welsh and her family (especially her Oma) very much for providing us so many photographies and stories about Joe Welsh and his time at BDN.