Bobby Ray Welch, 84, a resident of Rutledge, died Sunday, April 12, 2009. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 16, 2009 from Turner Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. William Leverette officiating. Interment will follow in Ivy Creek Cemetery with Turner Funeral Home of Luverne directing. Mr. Welch is preceded in death by wife, Helen Holley Welch; and two brothers, James Edward Welch Sr. and Alvin Bartley Welch Sr. He is survived by his wife of 17 years, Rebecca Johnson Welch; three daughters, Ann (William) Gardner, Cheryl (Ed) Martin, and Jennifer W. Owens; two step-sons, Randy Sexton and Allen (Lisa) Sexton; four grandchildren, Holley Harrington, Heather Golden, Chase Carlisle, and Patrick Owens, and one great grandson, Brayden Harrington. Active pallbearers will be Jeffery Welch, Bartley Welch, Ed Welch, Todd Sexton, Werner Tiedtke, and Curtis Phillips. Honorary pallbearers include Kermit Styron and Lamar Smith.