Barbara Ann Weaver, aged 82, passed away on December 6t, 2019, at Cornwall Manor in Cornwall, PA. She was preceded in death by her parents Helen and Harold Fidler, and her brother, Donald Fidler. She is survived by her husband James Weaver, and son Philip Weaver, and daughter Sarah Weaver (Martha Hardy), and her sister Judith Kahler (Gerald
Kahler), and other extended family.
She was born in Germantown, Ohio and attended Germantown High School. She earned her BA in Education from Mount Union College. She spent her teaching career in elementary education, usually teaching first or second grades, an age in child development she especially loved. Her first years of teaching were in Ohio and Indiana. When Barbara and Jim moved to Philadelphia, she began a long career teaching in Friends schools, first at Friends Select School and then for 28 years at Abington Friends School. After retiring from Abington Friends, she worked for the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education as a mentor for student teachers. She is remembered as a kind and supportive mentor by teaching colleagues, and as a passionate, fantastic first grade teacher by former students.
For many years her first graders started the year learning about the life cycle of monarch butterflies. This connected her students to other classrooms across the country working on the same science lesson. A highlight of teaching this science project was going on a trip with researchers and other teachers to visit the place in Mexico where the monarchs migrate in winter. Always in tune with the interests of six and seven-year-olds, she spent a year on sabbatical in the 1980s working as a docent at the Academy of Natural Sciences learning about dinosaurs and subsequently taught science lessons based on that experience. An early adopter of using computers in the classroom, she used word processing as a means to accelerate student learning in reading and writing. Her class always participated in service projects each year, often making sandwiches for a homeless shelter. Modeling both thoughtfulness and kindness, she taught students to make sandwiches with a large serving of meat because the people who would be eating them might not eat anything else that day.
At home Barbara was an avid gourmet cook. She loved to have dinner parties and serve elegant dishes like Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon or chocolate cheesecake. She was also a skilled seamstress making clothes for herself, her children and extended family. With husband Jim, she enjoyed many travels to Chincoteague, Virginia for bird watching. Other trips included Maine, Nova Scotia, and Switzerland and Germany. After retiring, she spent many hours researching family genealogy and making digital copies to preserve old family photos.
A memorial Friends meeting for worship will be held in the Health Center Community Room at Cornwall Manor, Cornwall Pennsylvania on May 16th, 2020 at 1:30 PM. All are welcome to attend to celebrate her life. In lieu of flowers please donate to Abington Friends School.
