On most Saturday nights at our family farm, the channel and show viewing at suppertime is almost always the same.
“The Lawrence Welk Show,” now broadcast as syndicated “best of” reruns, plays weekly on local PBS stations such as WNIT PBS in South Bend, Channel 34, and WYIN PBS in Merrillville, Channel 56. It’s the reason Welk’s signature “champagne music” is heard floating throughout my parents’ living room nearly every weekend. Even after Dad’s passing before the holidays, Mom continues the tradition as a favorite nostalgic time travel to a simpler and seemingly more innocent escape.
Over the decades, my parents have crossed paths with many of the star talents Welk made famous on his musical variety show, which aired from the 1950s through the early 1980s. These encounters usually came through meetings from my own writings and interviews. We met many of the famous faces at The Welk Resort in Branson, Missouri, when the 159-room hotel and theater opened in May 1994 under the Welk Resort Group, established as a side investment by the bandleader in 1964.
Of all the Welk stars, the harmonizing Lennon Sisters have always been among the most gracious and congenial. A few weeks ago, on Jan. 28, the sisters announced via social media that they have retired from public performing. Dianne, 86, Peggy, 84, Kathy, 82, and Janet, 79, started on “The Lawrence Welk Show” in 1955. After Dianne and Peggy stopped touring two decades ago, youngest sister Mimi, now age 70, joined Kathy and Janet as a touring trio. I recall the trio playing Drury Lane Theatre in Oak Brook Terrace in November 2014 when I chatted with them, along with my mom and Aunt Ruby, for a cover story.
On Feb. 11, the sisters also used social media to alert the public about the death of Lawrence Welk Jr., age 85, who they credit for launching their careers on his famous father’s television show.
Their post to Facebook reads: “It is so sad to share Larry Welk Jr passed away Feb. 5. He was a one-of-a-kind and is the reason we started this amazing unbelievable surprising career. He was godfather to our brother Joey, he was supportive of all our charities with which we were involved. He loved our mom, and not only brought us to his dad for our first appearance Christmas Show in 1955, but brought most of our family to Branson to perform in his Champagne Theatre at his Welk Resort. My brothers’ Morning Show with The Lennon Brothers and Gail Lennon was an enormous hit. Our many years here are because of his love of his dad’s show and audience. He was a brother in so many ways.”
Earlier this month, I was sent a news release distributed to the media by Holtz Matthews LLP, filing a $30 million lawsuit on behalf of ailing Larry Jr. about what they described as his “illegal ousting from the family business.” The lawsuit is against his own younger son, Kevin, age 55, and also his nephew Jonathan Fredricks, son of Shirley Welk Fredricks, now age 93 and the daughter of the late bubbly bandleader who died at age 89 in 1992.
The release from the law firm states: “Driven by greed and ego, the son of the late renowned bandleader, Lawrence Welk, was illegally ousted as CEO and chairman of The Welk Group, an enormously profitable organization he ran for 42 years, by his own son and other family members as they seek to enrich themselves and use profits for personal gain, according to a lawsuit filed last month. The complaint filed on Jan. 20 by Lawrence Welk Jr. in Los Angeles County Superior Court against his son, Kevin Welk, The Welk Group, Inc., his nephew Jonathan Fredricks, and Stephen Baron, seeks to dissolve the storied company.
“Like a scene from Macbeth, after Plaintiff built his son’s and nephew’s careers, they repaid him by stabbing him in the back, surreptitiously ousting him from the company he built, stealing his money, and manipulating the board of directors to exert undue power and control over Plaintiff, a now-85-year-old man,” according to the lawsuit.
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“Mr. Lawrence Welk, Jr. owns 28.551% of the company’s stock even after being ousted. The unbelievable move came in November 2022, when Welk’s son, Kevin, and his nephew John Fredricks, called a special board meeting to change company rules that no one above the age of 74 should serve as CEO, the complaint states.
“Welk was 82 at the time. The sole purpose of the amendment, the complaint continues, was to remove Welk, while during the same meeting the board voted to eliminate the CEO position altogether, without a severance package. In turn, Welk lost his monthly salary of $35,303, expense account and bonus, along with his health benefits. The company’s board then conveniently voted to install Fredricks as the company’s new ‘President,’” the complaint reads.
“Lawrence Welk, Jr., was substantially responsible for building the renowned company, The Welk Group, Inc. After building Heartland Music, he joined his father, launching the enormously profitable Welk Resorts. He acquired record labels, including Vanguard Records and Sugar Hill Records, signed numerous well-established artists, including John Fogerty and Linda Ronstadt, and oversaw the release of multiple hit records, including country music legend Dolly Parton’s 1999 album ‘The Grass is Blue.’ After spearheading the sale of Welk Music Group in 2015 for tens of millions of dollars to Concord Music, Welk orchestrated the sale of Welk Resorts in a blockbuster deal for nearly $430 million in 2021 to Marriott. He was an integral part of the company’s success only to be unceremoniously pushed aside by his own family who have been ‘stealing’ funds to line their own pockets and pay for luxurious lifestyles with Kevin Welk once spending $231,782.07 of the group’s money on an Aston Martin (sports car) for his own personal use.
“The defendants in this case have shamelessly and maliciously abused their power, ousting our client, Lawrence Welk, Jr., after he substantially built the illustrious company, The Welk Group, Inc. Our client grew the company alongside his father, renowned bandleader, Lawrence Welk, garnering multiple Grammy Awards with the family’s music business, and otherwise built a dynamic real estate and resort brand only for his son and nephew to essentially turn on him after he established their careers,” said plaintiff’s attorney Jordan Matthews of Holtz Matthews LLP.
Welk Jr. was a classmate of Dianne, the oldest of the Lennon Sisters. While visiting her after school at her parents’ home in 1955, the youth heard her sisters Peggy, Kathy and Janet singing while washing dishes in the kitchen. He recommended his father audition them, and they landed as cast regulars for his program.
From the interviews I’ve done with cast members over the years, Welk Sr. was a strict businessman and frugal with finances. He only believed in paying scale wages to his talent and discouraged his cast members from having individual agents, managers and publicists, inferring they hampered contract negotiations. Rather than tipping for service at restaurants and hotels, he favored giving out ink pens with the Welk Show logo and in place of Christmas bonuses, he gave out similar brand merchandise to staff and talent. I have one such item, purchased at an auction, as a memento sitting on my desk: a small hourglass suspended in acrylic with a tiny tin champagne glass, floating bead “bubbles” and the embedded Welk logo in a clear block intended as a paperweight. A label on the underside refers to a Welk musician and reads: “To Al Monti From Lawrence Welk 1956.”
Welk Sr., a devout Catholic, also made headlines in the 1970s for being at odds with his son’s wife, singer Tanya Falan, a cast member Welk Jr. married in 1968, just several months after she joined the show. From the engaged couple’s decision to hire a “rock band” to play at their wedding reception to a debate about whether the couple would marry in a Catholic church, all became topics for gossip columnist and after their nuptials, fodder for the cover of TV magazines of the 1970s.
Lawrence Welk III was born in 1970 and then Kevin Welk in 1971. Tanya said in interviews she detested being introduced on the show by Welk Sr. as his “daughter-in-law.” The couple divorced in 1978. Today, at age 77, Tanya remarried and is the wife of world champion motorcycle racer Kenny Roberts. Lawrence Welk Jr. is survived by his second wife Lynn of 34 years of marriage.
In a 2019 column, I shared a recipe for Lawrence Welk’s favorite chicken and dumplings as prepared by his beloved mom Christiana during his youth on their family farm in North Dakota. Today’s recipe for a luscious, quick-prep, decadent chocolate cake comes from the Lennon Sisters’ beloved mom Isabelle “Sis” Lennon, who died at age 85 in May 2005.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is a weekly radio show host on WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected] or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.
Lennon Sisters’ Mom’s Chocolate Bundt Cake
Makes 8 slices
INGREDIENTS
1 box dark chocolate fudge cake mix
1 small box dark chocolate fudge instant pudding
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup dark strong coffee
8 ounces sour cream
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Garnish of powdered sugar or a glaze of additional melted milk chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips at low speed 30 seconds.
Scrape sides of bowl, then mix at medium-high for 2-3 minutes.
Add chocolate chips and mix at low speed for 30 seconds.
Pour batter in to lightly oiled or Teflon Bundt pan.
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Bake for 50 to 55 minutes (until inserted toothpick comes out clean despite chips still being gooey).
Allow to cool before sprinkling, if desired, with powdered sugar or melt additional chocolate chips with a touch of water and drizzle over cake.