Jenna Welch
Jenna Louise Hawkins Welch (July 24, 1919 – May 10, 2019) was the mother of First Lady Laura Bush.
Jenna Welch | |
|---|---|
 Jenna Welch with her daughter (front-right) | |
| Born | Jenna Louise Hawkins July 24, 1919 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Died | May 10, 2019 (aged 99) Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Bookkeeper |
| Spouse(s) | Harold Welch |
| Children | Laura Bush |
Biography
Welch was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, She is the daughter of Halsey Sinclair Hawkins (1894–1982) and Jessie Laura Sherrard (1898–1981). She grew up in El Paso, Texas.
She married the late Harold Welch on January 29, 1944, and moved to Midland, Texas with him. Their only child, Laura Lane Welch, wife of George W. Bush, was born on November 4, 1946. Her granddaughter, Jenna Welch Bush, was named after her.
Jenna worked as bookkeeper of Harold's home building company from their residence in Midland, Texas.
In 2002, on a trip to West Virginia, George W. Bush seemed to suggest that an epiphany involving Welch had prompted him to turn against the Enron Corporation and Kenneth L. Lay, its chief executive and his largest single contributor, whom he called "Kenny Boy".
Breast cancer patient
Hawkins was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 at the age of 78. She had surgery and has been cancer-free since. Her daughter, Laura Bush, has become a breast cancer activist in honor of her mother.[1]