 Welch was born as Jo Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940, in Chicago, the first child to Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo (1911–1976) and Josephine Sarah Hall (1909–2000).Her father, Armando Tejada, was an aeronautical engineer from La Paz, Bolivia, son of Agustin Tejada and Raquel Urquizo.In 2010 while being interviewed on the talk show "Tavis Smiley", Welch stated, "My father came from a country called Bolivia.