Hazel Weeks

Monday, November 3, 2014

Hazel Marie (Silva) Weeks departed peacefully in her sleep on Nov. 1, 2014, to join her Savior and the many friends and family members waiting for her on the other side.

She was born at home in Lathrop, Calif., on May 1, 1923. The eldest of three girls, Hazel grew up in northern California, graduating from Manteca High School in 1941.

Business school followed and Hazel found employment as a secretary.

She was a self-described tomboy who enjoyed roller skating and playing second base on an all-female team of fellow secretaries called "The Ink Spots."

Hazel and her true love, Ralph Weeks, of Smithfield, Utah, were married on July 5, 1942 in Reno, Nev. Although World War II separated them, they were safely reunited and were stationed throughout the Western U.S. and Europe with Ralph's job in the Air Force.

They had five children and retired in Mountain Home in 1967.

Hazel and Ralph kept busy with varied work and social activities in the community over the years and later celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1992.

While in her mid-70s, Hazel kept active, traveling to Hawaii and England and batting baseballs into the outfield with her grandchildren.

Hazel was a member of Our Lady of Good Counsel parish, and was active in the Altar Society and Sodality for many years. She was also active in the American Legion/ DAV Auxiliaries, Beta Sigma Phi Sorority, and the Business and Professional Women's Association.

She was an early and ardent advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment, which sought workplace equality for women.

Hazel enjoyed creating beautiful needlework and crocheted afghans or friends and family.

She loved singing and playing the organ (though she and Ralph both were known to get creative with well-known lyrics) and they instilled a joy of music in their family.

They enjoyed one another's company and, except for those first three wartime years, were inseparable through 54 years of marriage, until Ralph's passing in 1996.

Hazel's memory will be cherished always by her family: daughters Linda Bishop and her husband, John, and their children, Roger (wife Erin and children Grace and Luke) and Lisa, all of Spokane, Wash.; Joann Lawrence of Boise; Donna McNearney and her husband, Russell, of Boise, and their children, Kate and Sean; son Marke Weeks and his wife, Mary Anca, of Mountain Home, and child Ray Anca; and son James Weeks and his wife, PJ, of Mountain Home. Hazel is also survived by her two younger sisters, Grace Kopp and her husband, Lyle, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., and their children, Bobbie, Karen, Sherrie and David, and Josephine "Sug" Bohling and her husband, Marvin, of Richland, Wash., and their children, Vicki, Lori and Marv Jr., as well as numerous great-nieces and -nephews.

Hazel was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Ralph, nephew Michael Kopp and grandson Louis Anca.

The family wishes to thank the compassionate staff of St. Luke's Regional Medical Center and Legacy Hospice for their care and guidance. But most especially, our gratitude is owed to the exceptional care staff at Wynwood Assisted Living, as they helped Hazel prepare for her final journey.

Services will be held at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home on Friday, Nov. 7, 2014, at 2 p.m. Interment will follow at Mountain Home Cemetery.

What is fragile and precious lives on...eternal at last. We miss you and love you, Mom - until we meet again on that beautiful shore.