Funeral for Helen Welch of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1:30 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Jim Lee will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park.

Welch, 81, died Tuesday, March 24, 1998, at Heartland Care and Rehab Center.

She was born March 4, 1917, in Dongola, Mo., daughter of Walter A. and Maude Reitman Bidewell. She first married Phillip Stiles in 1949 in St. Louis County. He died in 1963. She later married Thomas Welch July 18, 1980, in Blytheville, Ark. He died July 14, 1994.

Welch was a graduate of Lutesville High School and attended Southeast Missouri State University. She taught at rural schools, had been credit manager at Mitchell Clothing and Jewelry in St. Louis, and had been credit manager at Biederman Furniture Co. in Cape Girardeau.

She and her first husband founded Stiles Office Equipment in Carbondale, Ill., in 1956. After his death she sold the business to Dave Sander.

Welch lived in Pasadena, Calif., 18 years where she was an executive secretary to the founder and chancellor of Ambassador College.

She was a member of Worldwide Church of God in Cape Girardeau.

Survivors include a sister, Mildred Rivers of Bell City.

She was preceded in death by a son and a brother.