Victor J. Weber Died 1986

WEBER, ROPES

Posted By: Connie Swearingen - volunteer (email)
Date: 7/24/2016 at 11:20:03

Onawa Democrat
1 May 1986

Victor J. Weber, 74, a resident of Des Moines, Iowa, since 1958, died at Des Moines General Hospital on April 19, 1986. Funeral services were held at Westover Funeral Home in Des Moines at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 22, 1986.

Mr. Weber was married to the former Majayne Ropes of Onawa. He was a retired supervisor of Institutional Audits for the State of Iowa. He was born in Leonia, New Jersey, and until 1934 traveled to the Amazon collecting poisonous snakes and rare fish to be distributed to zoos through his business, Amizonica, in New York City. He made 17 trips to Brazil to gather cockatoos, snakes, cougars, rare fish, and parrots. The trips, taken between 1929 and 1933, weren't the stuff of action movies like "Romancing the Stone", but they have been the subject of many living-room story-telling sessions. "It wasn't as swashbuckling as it may have sounded, but it was still exciting," said Majayne Ropes Weber, Weber's widow and the daughter of former Iowa Secretary of State Wayne Ropes. "It sounds much more adventurous and romantic than it was because he had to care for the animals on this freighter. He used to say, "They wouldn't be calling it an adventure if they could see me in the hull of the ship with a shovel.'" Weber became Interested in animals while working with his father, self-taught ornithologist, Jay Weber. He established his pet-gathering business when a brief Wall Street career ended with the 1929 stock market crash.

His search for prize pets took him to Belem, a Brazilian city about a day's freighter cruise from the mouth of the Amazon. He stayed at the Grand Hotel, where he laughed at the contrast of eating a five-course meal in an elegant dining room, then returning to a room equipped with two live lizards bent on reducing the insect population. Snakes became one of the hottest sellers.

Weber made sure they enjoyed quick passage through U.S. Customs by labeling their crates with messages such as "One 20 foot boa constrictor", which quickly diverted inspectors' attentions to other packages. Weber brought in a pet of his own a miniature Indian elephant that "Followed him around like a dog" said Majayne. After seven bouts with malaria, Weber turned his attention to helping his father develop the family's 88 acre parcel on the north side of Miami, Florida. But his interest in animals remained, and he ran the American division of a prominent German aquarium for a time. Even after-he retired in 1978, his ties to Brazil's animal riches continued. Majayne just gave away the family's last two Amazon parrots. But she didn't give away her many memories of Weber's experiences. For example, after watching a snake-handler milk the venom from a rattlesnake at Madison Square Garden, Weber "just took the glass and drank the venon," knowing it wouldn't hurt him, but drawing gasps of astonishment anyway, said Majayne.

Weber's daughter, Victoria Porter of Des Moines, said he was an accomplished cook whose dishes included rattlesnake and frog legs in garlic butter. He also had sampled monkey meat. He was an accomplished gardener. Several friends and relatives called him a quiet, well-mannered man. "The most important thing is what a gentlemen, and a gentle man, he was," said his daughter, Victoria. Harry Ericksen of Des Moines, a friend of 30 years, called Weber a "very
sweet guy, very low-key".

He was an Army veteran of World War II. While living in Miami, Florida, he designed and organized the construction of the North Miami Legion Home. He was a member of the Miami 40 and 8 Honor Guard Team and past commander of the American Legion in North Miami. He was a member of the Legion Argonne Post No. 60 of Des Moines.

He is survived by his wife, Majayne Ropes Weber of Des Moines; a daughter, Victoria Jane Porter of Des Moines; two sons, John Victor Weber of Des Moines and Jay Anthony Weber of Phoenix, Ariz.; a brother, Robert D. Weber of Miami, Fla.; and two step-granddaughters.

The body was cremated. Family interment services were held at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 24, 1986, at the Onawa Cemetery, Onawa, Iowa, with Rev. Everett Epperson officiating. Military rites were by David McNeill American Legion Post No. 129 of Onawa with arrangements by the Pearson Funeral Home, Onawa, Iowa.