Anne S. Weiss

WEISS

Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 9/25/2023 at 08:20:00

Anne S. Weiss, founding executive director of the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka, California, died September 8, 2023. She passed away in Coralville, Iowa, where she had moved in 2019 to be closer to family.

She was predeceased in 2008 by her husband of 55 years, Roger. She was also predeceased by two older brothers. She is survived by her sons, David and Paul, their wives and two grandchildren.

Anne was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her childhood was not easy. Her father died when she was 3. She was raised by a single mother who worked long hours for little pay as a legal secretary. In the winter, Anne would go to the train yard to scavenge coal for the furnace. A high school drama teacher recognized Anne had a talent for acting. Throughout high school and later in college Anne had leading roles in several plays, which led to a life-long love of the theater. In 1952 Anne enrolled in the University of Minnesota, where, as she put it, “I totally neglected my first semester of college to work at the Volunteers for Stevenson.” She soon fell in love with another Stevenson volunteer, a chemistry graduate student named Roger. Six months later they were married. Roger’s stipend as a graduate student was not enough for the newlyweds to live on, so Anne quit school to take a job at an insurance company. A few years later when Roger took a teaching job at the University of Toledo, Anne returned to the classroom and earned degrees in English and teaching. She taught intermittently during the coming two decades, including a year in the mid 1960s at an all-black high school in Atlanta, an experience about which she said she learned more than she taught.

Anne and Roger moved to northern California in 1959 when Roger got a job teaching chemistry at Humboldt State College (now California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt). They soon started a family. In 1972-73, Roger took a sabbatical to teach chemistry in Pakistan. The entire family accompanied him. Upon their return to Humboldt in the fall of 1973, Anne got wind of plans to launch an agency that would provide services for senior citizens. She applied for the job as executive director and was hired despite having neither relevant work experience nor a degree in social work. (Those were simpler times!) Over the next decade, what started as a small information and referral service grew into a comprehensive senior center with a budget of $2 million. Anne retired as executive director in 1986 so she and Roger would have time to travel the world.

To Anne, elder care was more than a job, it was a matter of social justice. Anne and Roger engaged with many other issues of their time, including efforts to protect California’s Redwood trees, ensure reproductive rights, and overcome racial inequality. In addition to shared values, Anne and Roger were united by their love of travel, theater, hiking in the Redwoods, Civil War history and modern Native American art. Anne was an avid reader and enjoyed needlepoint until her arthritis made that no longer possible. Anne and Roger frequently included their children in these activities, which helped to bring everyone together as a family. In her later years, Anne enjoyed sharing her experiences with her grandchildren.

In keeping with Anne’s wishes, her body was donated to The University of Iowa Deeded Body Program. A celebration of life will take place from 2:00-4:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 1, at Grand Living at Bridgewater in Coralville, IA. The family suggests memorial donations be made to the Humboldt Senior Resource Center, 1910 California Street, Eureka CA 95501 or to Friends of the Arcata Marsh, P.O. Box 410, Arcata, CA 95518.

Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
 

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