WILMINGTON — Mark Kaye Weaver, 89, a loving husband, father, grandfather, uncle and friend, died Sunday, May 20, 2018, at Lower Cape Fear Hospice after a brief illness.
Born in 1928, the son of Kemper Kaye Weaver and Merry Mills Weaver, he grew up in New Lebanon, Ohio, and attended Miami University of Ohio before moving as a young man to Carolina Beach, where he got his first taste of coastal life and owned a boarding house called The Webb.
He served in the Korean War in 1952 to 1953, as part of the artillery force for the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division. Afterward, he spent the final year of his military deployment in Hawaii, a place where he found a lifelong connection, and to which he would return again and again in the years and decades that followed. In 1961, Mark graduated from Ohio Northern University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy. A few years later, he returned to North Carolina, where he worked as a pharmacist until his retirement in 1995.
A skilled boater, scuba diver and deep-sea fisherman, Mark was entirely at home on the water. He could often be found miles offshore on his boat, which he named the Meer Jager (a nod to his German ancestry). Over the years, he taught numerous friends and relatives how to catch and clean fish and to navigate the ocean. He began scuba diving to explore shipwrecks off the North Carolina coast, and the hobby eventually became a serious pursuit that took him and his wife, Laura, to islands all over the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Mark was also a gifted cook who loved good food and knew how to make it; his frequent experiments in the kitchen were joyful and delicious.
Mark is survived by his wife of 39 years, Laura Johnson Weaver, and her family; daughters, Kaye Weaver and Merry Weaver; and grandson, Hamlin Jones (Stephanie). He was preceded in death by his son, Mark; and four sisters, Marilyn Weaver Kettering (Ross), Gloria Weaver Roberts (Bill), Barbara Weaver Yeazel (Russell) and Phyllis Weaver Nahas (Jerry).
A visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 23, at Andrews Mortuary Valley Chapel, 4108 South College Road, Wilmington. A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m., Thursday, May 24, at the Harrells Community Cemetery, Harrells.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Lower Cape Fear Hospice, 1406 Physicians Drive, Wilmington, N.C. 28401; or to the charities of your choice.
Share online condolences with the family at andrewsmortuary.com.
