Auburn – G. Michael Welch, 61, of 5 Harmony Lane, Lewiston, principal of St. Dominic Regional High School, passed away on Sept. 26, at Androscoggin Home Hospice after a long battle with cancer.

The beloved son and only child of George and Mildred (Fox) Welch was born in New Haven, Conn., on Dec. 13, 1944. He attended schools in New Haven, where his aunt was the superintendent of schools. He heard God’s call and graduated from St. Thomas Seminary College in Connecticut and attended St. John Seminary College in Massachusetts. His mother’s illness prompted him to put his vocation on hold, instead devoting himself to attend to her needs in her final years. He completed his master’s degree in educational administration at Boston College.

A great educator and humanitarian, he worked with youth as guidance counselor/teacher at St. James High School in Haverhill, Mass.; outreach worker at the Dorchester Juvenile Court, Dorchester, Mass.; program director at Cushing Hall in Scituate, Mass.; principal at Sacred Heart’s Weymouth Catholic High School in Weymouth, Mass.; superintendent/director at the Robert F. Kennedy School, Westborough, Mass.; principal of Nantucket Junior/Senior High School, Nantucket, Mass.; principal of Vicksburg Catholic School, Vicksburg, Miss. He also served as director of Catholic education in Warren County Mississippi.

In 1992, he came to Lewiston and was hired to head St. Dominic Regional High School, the only diocesan high school in the state of Maine. He was the motivating force in the construction of the new St. Dominic Regional High School now located in Auburn.

Though he had no children of his own, he had thousands of children that he called his own, both as an educator and as a coach, an athletic director and through various professional, civic and religious committees and associations.

He was recognized for his dedication to the Roman Catholic church and was awarded the “Immaculate Conception Award” in December 2000, the first year the award was established. In October of this year, the title of “Knight of the Holy Sepulcher,” an award made by the Pope, will be bestowed on him posthumously in Boston by Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

He has no known living blood relatives though he is survived by his adopted family, Richard and Anne Servidio, Ronald and Joline Girouard, Rick and Laurie Servidio, Peter and Cheyenne Servidio, Jeff, Andrew and Jenny Girouard, Alexis and Ridge Servidio, and his only goddaughter, Olivia Servidio.

He was predeceased by his parents who loved him dearly and with whom he is now sharing his heavenly reward.