When Bruce Welker was born on 18 January 1888, in Vermillion Township, LaSalle, Illinois, United States, his father, Joseph Welker, was 55 and his mother, Mary Walton, was 48. He married Lilly Belle Harrison on 13 September 1900, in Vermillion, Indiana, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 1 daughter. He lived in Clinton, Clinton Township, Vermillion, Indiana, United States for about 30 years and Montgomery, Indiana, United States in 1937. He died on 19 January 1963, in Rockville, Parke, Indiana, United States, at the age of 75, and was buried in Brazil, Brazil Township, Clay, Indiana, United States.