Remembering: UNMC supporter Marv Welstead

Marv Welstead of Fremont, honorary chairman of the Fremont Area Alzheimer’s Collaboration (FAAC), died May 25 at the age of 98.

Welstead, who lost his wife, Jean, in 2009 after an eight-year battle with Alzheimer’s, was a longtime supporter of Alzheimer’s disease research at UNMC. The FAAC recently donated a $60,000 pilot grant for such research; it was the sixth grant, totaling more than $215,000, that the FAAC had donated to UNMC since 2014.

“Marv has been tremendously supportive in raising money for Alzheimer’s research in the region and at UNMC in particular,” said Dan Murman, M.D., professor and vice chair of clinical and translational research in the UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences. “He seemed to know just about everyone in Fremont and was so successful in getting people motivated to donate money for Alzheimer’s research. He always wanted to keep the money he raised in Nebraska, and this was huge for us at UNMC.

See Welstead’s obituary here.

“Marv was such an inspiration. He was so well respected and so sincere. He was truly motivated by his wife’s death in 2009 from Alzheimer’s disease, and he used his connections to try to make a difference with this terrible disease. It’s a huge loss. He leaves some tough shoes to fill.”

“Marv Welstead is one-of-a-kind,” said friend and UNMC public relations staffer Tom O’Connor. “It’s beyond amazing that he could raise $60,000 for Alzheimer’s research at the age of 98. That just doesn’t happen. He’s a heroic figure who will never be forgotten at UNMC.”

On Feb. 21, the Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce inducted Welstead into its Hall of Fame on his 98th birthday.

In 2018, Welstead received the UNMC Community Service to Research Award for his fundraising efforts on behalf of Alzheimer’s disease.