Roll of Honor
Robert Lewis Welch, III
Incident
Correctional Officer Robby Welch died from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty while assigned to the Women’s Eastern Reception and Diagnostic Correctional Center in Vandalia, Missouri.
Officer Welch had served with the Missouri Department of Corrections for 13 years.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Correctional Officer Robert Lewis Welch, III died on July 22, 2021 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 59.
He is one of 884 officers honored here, and one of 8 at Missouri Department of Corrections.
Beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers across the country contracted COVID-19 in the course of their duties. While much of the nation sheltered at home, they kept answering calls, making arrests, transporting prisoners, and working face to face with the public. There was no distance to be had from the job.
Corrections officers were hit hardest. Confined facilities and large populations meant constant, close, unavoidable exposure.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife, three children, and mother.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MO-2A5C0DA7- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
The country locked its doors. You kept working.
Correctional Officer Welch gave the Missouri Department of Corrections 13 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Missouri. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Correctional Officer Welch.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Correctional Officer Robert Lewis Welch, III is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In MO, 26 of 813 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 3.2% of this state's fallen. That is 5.9 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At Missouri Department of Corrections, 8 of 20 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 40% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Robert Lewis Welch, III's cause is highlighted.
How Robert Lewis Welch, III Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Robert Lewis Welch, III is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
19 officers from Missouri Department of Corrections are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
