Rita Jane Crancer Weaver died Feb. 26, 2017
Bud Weaver died Feb. 6, 2018
Both died at the Army Residence Community in San Antonio, Texas where they had lived since 2006.
Lamar “Bud” Weaver Jr. was born on August 31, 1923 at Fort McPherson, Georgia. Bud was the second of four children born to Lamar Weaver and Geraldine Lonergan Weaver. He died on February 6, 2018 at the age of 94. Bud graduated from West Point in 1945. His brothers, John (Class of 1950) and Tom (Class of 1955) followed him at West Point.
He met his beloved wife, Rita Jane Crancer at Our Lady of Lourdes in Southern France. Rita was from Leavenworth, Kansas and Bud was on his way to attend the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He affectionately called this meeting “my miracle of Lourdes.” The miracles continued when they discovered that Rita’s brother, Jerry Crancer (Class of 1955) and Bud’s younger brother, Tom were classmates at West Point.
Bud and Rita were married on June 27, 1959 in the old Catholic Cathedral in Leavenworth. They were blessed with three children, John, Mary Beth, and Julie.
He served as an Army officer for thirty years, initially in the Infantry and subsequently in the Quartermaster Corps. While in the service he earned a graduate degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He had many assignments managing Army petroleum requirements in Okinawa and Korea, throughout Europe, and in Washington, DC. He served as a the commander of the U.S. Army Petroleum Group, Europe and was an instructor and director of the Department of Logistics at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. Following his retirement from the Army in 1975, he served as the Director of the Kansas Energy Office for two years. He also taught in the Leavenworth parochial school system and at a local college as an adjunct professor.
Having spent 46 years in Leavenworth, Bud and Rita moved to San Antonio, Texas into the Army Residence Community (ARC) where they forged a new lifestyle making new friends and reestablishing old friendships. They were grateful to be closer to his brother, Tom and his wife, Sue. They were also delighted to have Rita's sister Dorothy Crancer and their niece, Mary Jo and her husband, Ed Dallas join them at the ARC. In his own words, Bud “loved God, his family, and derived both strength and comfort from them. He was a patriot and felt quiet pride in having been privileged to march in the “Long Gray Line” through thirty years of service in the Army.”
Bud was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Rita Jane, and more recently his brother, Tom. He leaves behind his children, John (Becky), Steilacoom, Washington; Mary Beth (Mary), Portland, Oregon, and Julie (John), Sterling, Virginia, along with his five grandsons, Jeffrey, Andrew, Bennet, Daniel Lamar, and Beau. He was loved by many and will be deeply missed.
Together ♥♥♥ Forever
Rita was born on January 10, 1935 in Leavenworth, Kansas, the daughter of John and Teresa Duffin Crancer. She attended Sacred Heart Grade School, St. Mary Academy, and Immaculata High School, and St. Mary College, from which she graduated in 1956. Following graduation, Rita became a flight attendant with Trans World Airline until 1959, when she married Col. (then Major) Weaver in the Immaculate Conception church, then known as the Old Cathedral.
For the next 11 years, she lived with her husband and three children at his stations, Stateside and overseas: Korea, Belgium, and Germany. In 1970 Col. Weaver returned to Ft. Leavenworth, where he served until his retirement in 1975. During this period Rita was an active member of both Immaculate Conception and St. Ignatious parishes. Following his retirement, the family moved to the North Esplanade where they restored a Victorian era home, registered on the National Historic Homes Landmark. They lived there for the next 30 years until 2006 when Rita and her husband relocated to San Antonio, TX.
Her parents and her brother, Col. John "Jerry" Crancer (LHS Class of 1951), preceded Rita in death. She is survived by her husband and by her sister, Beth Crancer Hall of Memphis, TN, and by her three children: John S Weaver, Mary Beth Weaver, and Julia Ann (Weaver) Humpton and five grandsons.
A memorial Mass is to be celebrated in the Army Residence Communitity Chapel, San Antonio, and arrangements have been entrusted to the R L Leintz Funeral Home for a graveside service and inurment in Mt Cavalry Cemetary at a date to be determined. Queries may be directed to Immaculate Conception/St Joseph Church http://www.icsj.org/ContactUs.htm as regards date and time.
Please sign the guestbook at www.colonialuniversal.com. Arrangements under the direction of Colonial Funeral Home, Universal City, Texas.
Please make memorial donations in Rita's memory to Heart to Heart Hospice at http://hearttohearthospice.com/
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