Mary Jane Weaver’s son remembers her generosity and caring nature.
“There was a family that lived near us, and they were pretty poor,” said Steve Weaver, 66, of Arnold. “One of them told me he remembers my mom just showing up one day with a box of food. Now, we didn’t have much ourselves, but that was typical of my mother. She saw a need and didn’t have to be called or asked; she just did what she could to help.”
Mrs. Weaver died Aug. 8 at age 89 following a stroke.
She grew up one of six siblings on a big farm near Hillsboro.
“The farm on Tinhouse Road was a real Norman Rockwell setting, with a two-story brick house with 18-inch thick walls and a huge red barn,” Steve said.
One day Mary, who had to leave school in the 10th grade, ran into a former classmate, Oscar Weaver, after he returned from World War II.
“There was a little twinkle,” Steve said with a laugh.
The two were married in 1950 and raised their family on the same old farm where Mary grew up. They welcomed Steve in 1951 and his sister, Diane, in 1954. Mrs. Weaver cared for her elderly mother and ran the household, while her husband managed the farm. They kept a large garden and had 500 hogs.
“This was just what life was in this part of the country at that time,” Steve said.
In the late 1950s, disease ravaged the herd of hogs.
“Around 1960, my dad decides he’s going to sell everything and build a resort at this brand new lake in southwestern Missouri called Table Rock,” Steve said. “My mom said later, ‘I don’t know what your father was thinking!’ But, he was an adventurous young man and he had this itch.”
The Weavers sold their 200-acre farm and bought 3 acres right on the lake.
“We cleared the land, the four of us,” Steve said. “We built six cabins, and lived in one.
“It was a huge transition for mom. She didn’t say anything until many years later, but she hated it.”
Faith always was a cornerstone of Mrs. Weaver’s life and after the big move, she quickly found a new church.
“From my earliest childhood, she had me in the Methodist Church there in Hillsboro,” Steve said. “One of the first things my mom did there (at Table Rock) was find the Methodist church in Kimberling City. She also joined a bowling league.”
Despite giving it their best try, the family ended up selling the resort by 1967 and returning to Jefferson County.
“They came back here dead broke,” Steve said. “They borrowed money from her sister for a down payment on a house. I think being back in the nest here, so to speak, was comforting for my mom.”
Mrs. Weaver went to work for United Van Lines and her husband worked in the St. Louis Police Department’s automotive department.
“They found a 3-acre place on Hillsboro-House Springs Road and settled into a working-class life,” Steve said. “My mom only missed two days of work in more than 20 years.”
The couple slowly rebuilt their finances and retired when she was 60 and he was 62.
“They got a fifth wheel (trailer), went to Alaska, bounced around, went out west,” Steve said. “It was the American dream. You worked hard; then it was your time to relax a little.”
Mrs. Weaver wasn’t exactly the relaxing type, though. She spent several days a week helping out at the Hillsboro Food Pantry.
“She was the kingpin of organizers,” Steve said with a laugh.
Canning was another passion for Mrs. Weaver.
“She put up 42 pints of beets a couple of weeks ago,” Steve said. “If you wanted to make her happy, get her Sure-Jel or some canning jars for Christmas.”
Mrs. Weaver also enjoyed bingo, sitting around a quilt frame chatting and spending time with her two grandchildren.
“She was such an incredibly energetic individual, so relentless in her passion for life,” Steve said.
Granddaughter Stephanie Turner recalls riding bikes with her grandmother through downtown Anchorage during a visit to Alaska.
“When I was in college, she used to send me $1 in the mail, with a note telling me to buy myself an ice-cold Coke,” Stephanie said. “If I went more than two weeks without calling her, she would call and ask if I had lost her number.”
After the death of her husband in 2010, Mrs. Weaver spoke with her grandson, Phil Weaver, about taking his grandfather’s golf clubs.
“I was a little hesitant,” Phil said. “I told her I’d think about it, and she replied with a straight face, ‘Well, I don’t think your grandpa will need them anytime soon.’”
Mrs. Weaver enjoyed excellent health and drove her beloved Buick everywhere, keeping such a regular schedule that her neighbor, seeing her car still in the driveway one morning past 8 a.m., was concerned enough to stop and check.
“The neighbor found her on the living room floor, fully dressed,” Steve said. “She had had a massive stroke. The neurologist told us later she probably was unconscious before she hit the floor.
“They say more scripture is caught than taught, meaning our example teaches more than our words,” Steve said. “She loved to serve and she loved to give. Those two qualities highlighted her life. She was like a tsunami; you couldn’t stop her.”
“Life Story,” posted Saturdays on Leader Publications’ website, focuses on one individual’s impact on his or her community.