Jean Eleanor Weathers

Jean Eleanor Kay Weathers, age 96, entered eternity on June 9, 2020. A graveside service was held at Oakwood Cemetery on Friday, June 12, with the Reverend Terry Graham officiating. Jean was born on March 23, 1924, in Eldon, Missouri, the eldest child of Harry Harold Kay and Pauline Higby Kay. After graduating high school in 1941, she attended Southwest Baptist College (now University) in Bolivar, Missouri, with an Associate Degree in 1943 and then attended Southwest Missouri State Teachers College (now Missouri State University) in Springfield, Missouri, graduating in 1945. After graduation, Jean worked primarily in Baptist church offices and mostly in the First Baptist Church of Springfield, Missouri, as the pastor’s secretary. She met Buell Weathers when he moved to Springfield to begin practicing law. They were married on April 19, 1952, in the chapel of First Baptist Church of Springfield. She ceased working in early 1954 and thereafter devoted her time to her home, church, and community activities. She loved her home and made it a haven of rest and tranquility but also a place of fellowship for friends and family including holiday gatherings which almost always included some close family friends. She loved cooking and entertaining and loved preparing and hosting parties for small and large groups of friends. Her love of cooking and entertaining led to her planning and supervising large church banquets over the years. Jean was always active in her church. She served as Sunday school teacher, department director, in many different Training Union capacities, WMU, and served on a multitude of church committees. She was involved in community affairs including PTA, P.E.O. Sisterhood, Civic Music Concerts, and The ARC of the Ozarks for children and young adults with disabilities. She and her husband were past recipients of the Humanitarians of the Year Award from The ARC of the Ozarks. The family traveled extensively by automobile covering all 50 states. During retirement they traveled by cruise ship to every continent except Antartica, and they viewed Antartica from the ship. They also enjoyed hiking in various National Parks and made four trips to and from the bottom of the Grand Canyon. When they were 82 years of age, they chose to transition to Waco, Texas, where their son resided. They became active in the First Baptist Church of Woodway and continued to travel. Jean was preceded in death by her parents (her mother in 1941 just as Jean entered college and her father at age 99 in 1995); her brothers Richard H. Kay and H. Allan Kay; and her stepmother Annie Ruth Elliot Kay. She is survived by her husband, Buell Franklin Weathers; daughter, Barbara Kay Weathers and son, Dr. Charles Wendell Weathers, all of Waco; sister-in- law, Gerry Kay, of Fresno, California; and several nephews and nieces. Memorials may be made to the Scholarship Fund at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, or the Buell F. and Jean E. Weathers Endowed Scholarship Fund at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, or the charity of your choice. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com.