La Crosse osteopath Lilian Beatrice Tracey Welda, daughter of John and Matilda Tracey, was born in Onalaska, Wisconsin in March 1900. She attended the local schools and graduated in May 1919, with an intention of studying osteopathy. She spent the next two years working at various jobs and considering the possibility of becoming a seamstress, but she did not repudiate her earlier career goal. She moved to Madison and in the fall of 1923 enrolled in the school of nursing at the Madison Sanitarium. After two years of study and practice, she transferred to the Laughlin Hospital in Kirksville, Missouri, where she continued her schooling as a nurse for one semester. In January 1925 she enrolled at the Des Moines-Still College of Osteopathy in Des Moines, Iowa, graduating four years later. Lilian Tracey then returned to Madison where she worked in a general delivery ward for two months. Seeking more lucrative career opportunities, she moved to La Crosse to work for a vacationing doctor for a period of 15 months. Upon the doctor's return, Lilian Tracey went into business for herself. She continued to practice osteopathy in La Crosse until her death in 1973.
In addition to her professional career, she briefly ran the Elgin Hotel in La Crosse from 1958 to 1960 and invested in the stock market.
Lilian Beatrice Tracey married Raymond Welda of La Crosse on June 29, 1956. Raymond died in 1971. The Weldas had no children.
