William Brownlee Welsh, a former resident of Sawyer's Island and a former vice president of the Boothbay Region Land Trust, died March 24, 2015, in Springfield, Virginia. He was 90.

Welsh joined BRLT’s board of directors in 1987. Two years later, he took on a leadership role as the trust’s vice president. He served as vice president until 1996 when his term on the board expired.

“During his tenure on the board and as vice president, BRLT acquired some of our most important and valuable preserves, including Linekin, Indiantown Island and Ovens Mouth,” said Nick Ullo, BRLT’s executive director.

Welsh, whose grandfather John Welsh owned a dairy farm on Dover Road at Ovens Mouth, was born in Munfordville, Kentucky. His father was Benjamin Tibbetts Welsh, a native of Boothbay.

Welsh spent his childhood summers on his grandfather’s farm. In 1956, he inherited a home on Sawyer's Island that had been owned by his great aunt, Mary Welsh.

Welsh enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 at age 19. He served as communications sergeant in Company D, 263rd Regiment, 66th Infantry Division. His unit helped contain a large pocket of Germans cut off behind Allied lines at the U-boat base at Saint-Nazaire.

Welsh held a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Berea College and a master’s degree in political science from the University of Kentucky. He worked on the staffs of U.S. senators Herbert Lehman (D-New Yprk) and Philip Hart (D-Michigan).

Welsh then served as chief of staff for Vice President Hubert Humphrey from 1966 to 1968. He also worked at different times as research director and executive director of the Democratic National Committee. He also was legislative director for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees from 1972 to 1976 and then again from 1984 to 1988.

During the Carter administration Welsh was assistant secretary for legislation and intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1977 to 1979. Following that, he was assistant secretary for legislation at the Department of Health and Human Services in 1980.

Welsh is survived by his wife, Jean, of Springfield, Virginia; his sons, Charles Welsh of Ellicott City, Maryland, and William Welsh of Vienna, Virginia; his daughter, Mary Welsh of Roscoe, Illinois; and his grandsons, Benjamin Welsh of East Hampton, Connecticut, and Andrew Welsh of Nagoya, Japan.