Claudia D. Welch ’76

Claudia died Aug. 7, 2024, in Oakland, Calif.  

She grew up in Wynnewood, a suburb of Philadelphia, and graduated from Friends’ Central School. At Princeton, she shared a freshman suite in Gauss Hall with Anita Springer, Melanie Lawson, Judy Linsenberg, Nancy Kraybill, Veronica King, Margie Brown, and her cat Mishka. Along with several of her roommates, Claudia worked at Commons. She majored in psychology and was fluent in French and German. She enjoyed dance and drawing. Claudia studied dance prior to Princeton and did an occasional twirl in privacy but never jumped back in formally while at college. She had an inventive imagination and enjoyed creating stories.  

After Princeton, Claudia moved to Berkeley, Calif., near her father, Claude Welch, a former Princeton religion professor. For the past 30 years she built her career as an attorney in the law department of Chevron Corp. in San Francisco and San Ramon. She was about to retire.  

The class officers extend condolences to her brother, Eric.