Remembering my grandmother

Luetta Jane Weaver
1917-2009

In remembering my grandmother, so much focus is on the fact she was 91. However, the grandmother I remember is the vocal, colorful lady from my youth. Her funeral was the second for Tess, now 11. Her first was her other great-grandmother from West Virginia, Nellie Johnson.

In 1917, America joined the fight in World War I. Woodrow Wilson was president. John J. Cornwell was governor of West Virginia. He headed the administration that created the state's board of education as well as the Department of Public Safety which became the West Virginia State Police.

Imagine how my grandmother witness the world change. I thought it might be interesting to note who else was born in 1917. Some of the famous people born the same year include:

• John Fitzgerald Kennedy
• Arthur C. Clarke
• Joan Fontaine
• Nat King Cole
• Lena Horne
• Casper Weinberger
• Cyrus Vance
• Dean Martin
• Andrew Wyeth
• Sidney Sheldon
• Buffalo Bob Smith
• Dinah Shore
• Gene Rayburn
• Zsa Zsa Gabor
• Robert Mitchum
• Dizzy Gillespie
• Tom Bradley
• Phyllis Diller
• Sophie Masloff
• Robert C Byrd

My grandmother was the daughter of Lloyd and Grace McGinnis Wilson. I was very fortunate to know by her parents and grew up well into my early adult years with both these wonderful great-grandparents. I'm also fortunate as my daughter Tess knew her great-grandmother.




Luetta lived a full life, she grew up on a homestead, went to school, had many adventures and learned to cook, milk cows and had many chores to do, which came in handy when she became a mother. She reveled in colorful storytelling and mastered the art of apple butter, fudge and other homemade goods that a generation of children and grand children enjoyed. She also played the piano, the accordion and organ. Music was a lifelong passion. She often played in churches. Her faith remained an important and central part of her life as she was a woman of many talents.