Harrisburg school board member killed by COVID-19 worked front lines as a social worker despite risks

• By Christine Vendel/PennLive

Harrisburg School Board Member Gerald Welch lived to help others.

So when the novel coronavirus hit Pennsylvania, he continued visiting and serving his clients as a behavioral outreach social worker. He knew clients, many of them autistic, were counting on him, so he continued providing support, including rides to work and to the grocery store.

Now friends are wondering if that unwavering devotion cost him his life.

Welch wore gloves, a mask and used hand sanitizer while he was out. He had diabetes and tried to be as safe as he could. But earlier this month he started having symptoms of headache, fever and body aches. On Thursday, was diagnosed with COVID-19 and he and his wife Donna started to self-quarantine. His condition quickly deteriorated.

On Easter Sunday, Donna rushed him to a hospital because he was becoming so weak.

Donna spoke to him by phone Monday morning and he said they had transferred him to the ICU because of low lung function.

“If it doesn’t pick up,” Gerald told her. “Then they’re going to intubate me and that’s when you die.”

Donna said: “Don’t say that! You hang in there, You fight. You’re too ornery to die!”

It would be the last time she would talk to him. He didn’t answer her next text message, and by Monday afternoon he was on a ventilator.

Early Wednesday, doctors said he went into cardiac arrest. They tried four times to bring him back, but they could not. Welch, 56, then became one of the nearly 650 deaths in Pennsylvania from the novel coronavirus.

Donna has not seen her husband’s body. The hospital won’t allow it. Plus she’s still under quarantine, stuck at home, unable to see friends and extended relatives. She’s not sure what kind of funeral she’ll be able to have for Gerald because of social-distancing rules or when since she is under quarantine until at least April 26.

“It’s a living nightmare,” she said.

His sudden death sent shockwaves across the country as friends in different cities learned the news. He was well-known and liked in Harrisburg, but also his former hometowns of New York City and Washington D.C. and in North Carolina, where he had extended family.

“He always cared about other people more than he cared about himself,” said his sister, Tresa Welch, of Washington D.C. “He always put others’ needs before his. He never met a person he didn’t think was important.”

Gerald showed these tendencies even as a child, Tresa said, like when he gave his coat to another kid in class who didn’t have a coat.

“Guess what?” his mother told him. “Now you don’t have a coat.”

But Gerald didn’t care if he had to go without. As long as he knew he helped someone, Tresa said.

That was his driving force: to make a difference for others and in his community. He knew his recent job couldn’t be done effectively from a distance, Tresa said. If he wasn’t going to be there for his clients: Who would?

“He was devoted to the men he supported,” she said, “to their inclusion in the community and their development.”

Welch grew up one of two children in Washington D.C., where he attended public schools. He was an athlete and a “fantastic dancer,” Tresa said. He eventually married, had children, struggled with drug addiction and went through a divorce. He successfully completed drug rehabilitation at the Delancey Street Foundation in New York City. The experience changed his life and refocused his passion on helping people.

Brandy Newton, of North Carolina, met Gerald when they were both residents at Delancey Street.

“Some people you just click with,” she said. “He was always very insightful and just took me under his wing, like a little sister.” After they both graduated, they kept in touch. She referred to his personality as like an “iron marshmallow.” He had a tough exterior and called people out for messing up, but was soft and caring on the inside.

“He was one of the main people I went to if I was struggling with sobriety, faith or a life-decision,” Newton said. “Through my mom’s stroke and my son’s cancer diagnosis, he was always there for me. He was an inspiration in how you pick yourself up from rock bottom and be something great.”

Gerald went on to earn his master’s degree from Fordham University in social work, constantly pushing himself to honor his parents.

While he was finishing his degree in early 2008, he met his future wife Donna through a social media website called MySpace. She liked how sweet and polite he was. He eventually passed his phone number to her and she kept it for about a week before she finally called him.

“We have talked every day since that day,” she said. They for several months until he suggested that he could stop by her home in Pennsylvania on his way to a speaking engagement in Washington D.C.

They had never met before so Donna invited over all her relatives so everyone would have a chance to meet him. She toiled over a big dinner, but when Gerald showed up, he wasn’t interested in the food. He asked to speak to her privately and then pulled out an engagement ring.

Donna said yes, even though she had originally pledged to never remarry after a bad first marriage. But his consistent kindness and honesty blew her away.

The marriage in 2008 is what brought Gerald to Harrisburg. He worked at first as a drug and alcohol counselor and then started the job he had most recently, which he loved.

“He had a client who would call 100 times a day,” Donna said. “And Gerald would take his calls and talk to him 100 times a day.” Gerald and Donna also took his clients on outings together at times, including trips to bowling alleys and tours of Washington D.C.

One of Gerald’s passions was education. He knew firsthand how a good education could change not only someone’s life, but their family and community. That’s how he got involved with the Harrisburg School District, first as a resident pushing for more transparency and accountability from school leaders.

As a resident, would show up at every school board meeting and challenge the previous administration about their decisions and why student performance wasn’t increasing. His speeches during public comments often pumped up the crowd and sometimes got standing ovations.

He nearly got kicked out of a school board meeting last year for drilling into the prior school leadership amid a series of scandals and financial mishaps.

“He was calling B.S. on what they were doing,” Buchwach said. “They called security to get him out. And I’m like, ‘That’s not going to work.’ He eventually just left.”

That’s when he and Jayne Buchwach agreed to run for school board seats together. For Welch, it was his second attempt at a board seat.

“We walked the neighborhoods and he had this instant appeal,” Buchwach said. “He was this big guy with a big voice. He could be seen as intimidating. But he was all about doing the right thing for the community.”

They both won seats last year as part of a slate to “flip” control of the board. One trait people respected about Gerald was his brutal honesty.

“He was very outspoken,” Buchwach said. “His mantra was, ‘I don’t go along to get along.’”

Fellow Board Member Brian Carter said Gerald Welch showed him the ropes and kept him focused.

“One of his biggest strengths was his voice. He was pretty much a vocal legend,” Carter said. “And he was willing to offer a solution and roll up his sleeves as well. He didn’t just point out what was wrong. He came with solutions.”

Board Member Carrie Fowler said Welch was willing to learn from his mistakes. In fact, he insisted on it.

“He was so humble in that way,” she said.

Fowler said she planned to spearhead the creation of a scholarship in Gerald’s name that could benefit a younger student still in the Harrisburg School District, by providing tutoring, mentoring and other kinds of supports for kids on the edge, the kind of kids Gerald always wanted to help.

“He always spoke the loudest for the kids who were struggling,” she said, “for the forgotten kids. I don’t know how this scholarship will work yet, but it would be something to keep his legacy alive.”

Gerald had his eye on bigger things in his future. He and Donna had started a program called FOCUS to help ex-offenders get back on their feet. He also toyed with the idea of running for mayor, even sharing the idea on his last radio show a few weeks ago. Another one of his passions was inspiring people to turn out to vote. He believed residents of Allison Hill could direct the city’s agenda if they all showed up on election day.

“I grieve for our community,” Buchwach said. “We lost a voice. We lost this force that was so needed.”

Gerald Welch leaves behind five children and 14 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son who was murdered in Washington D.C.

The Harrisburg School District put out the following statement about Gerald Welch:

”We are truly saddened by the passing of Harrisburg School Board Director, Mr. Gerald Welch, a true champion for others. We applaud and are extremely grateful for the unwavering support that Mr. Welch shared with the students, families and staff of the Harrisburg School District. As a true public servant, Mr. Welch was a passionate advocate for students and the broader community. The incredible manner in which Mr. Welch served and gave to others was a positive gift to our District.“

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