Robert C. Welch, 72, of Princeton, died September 4 at home.

Born in Salem, Mass., he had lived in Princeton for 32 years.

He attended Fordham University from 1950 to 1953 and the University of Paris from 1952 to 1953. He served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955.

He was employed for many years by International Schools Services in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Princeton, and subsequently worked for Kathryn Trenner, Esq. A writer and poet who used the nom de plume Salmon Ryder, he was a long-standing member of U.S. 1 Poets and Writers Cooperative of New Jersey, and received a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Son of the late J. Frank Welch and Helen Reagan Welch, he is survived by two daughters, Sara Welch of Jersey City and Lily Welch of Cincinnati, Ohio; their mother, Joanne Colley of Charlottesville, Va.; and a sister, Helen Jameson of New City, N.Y.

A memorial service will be held at Kimble Funeral Home at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, September 10. Interment will be private.

Calling hours at the funeral home on Wednesday will be from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. The family invites mourners to pray and worship privately, or at a Catholic mass at 12:10 p.m. on Wednesday at St. Paul's Church.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Multiple Myeloma Foundation, 3 Forest Street, New Canaan, Conn. 06840; or the American Lung Association, P.0. Box 2006, Princeton 08543-2006.