RALPH WEAVER

03/15/1939 - 01/27/2024

Ralph Weaver, age 84, died quietly at home surrounded by his family on Saturday, January 27, 2024.

He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on March 15, 1939, to Park Weaver and Douschka Bobo Weaver and grew up in Fort Worth before attending Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, a life-changing experience that he always treasured. Following Andover, he attended Rice University where he met his future wife Carol at the freshmen picnic, leading to a marriage that celebrated sixty years. After graduation Ralph and Carol married and moved to New York for a job with Cal-Tex Oil Company. A year in New York was followed by two years in The Hague, which included weekend travel to Copenhagen, Berlin, London, and most often Paris. The next chapter was at Harvard Business School, where he earned an MBA before returning to Houston to start a family and to work with venture capital investments in small energy and biotechnology companies. He held the positions of CEO or CFO in several of these companies.

Ralph liked to say that he was born for retirement and enjoyed years of travel to China, Japan, Tanzania, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Europe. His studies of Spanish included extended stays in San Miguel and Madrid. He played the guitar, cycled, tended his collection of bonsais, and treasured regular visits to the theater and ballet. Above all, reading was his favorite pastime, everything from history books to spy novels. The Economist and the New Yorker were required companions. And he loved his succession of sports cars and his cat Sophie.

The brightest spot in his universe was reserved for his children and grandchildren. He celebrated every achievement of which there were many and felt that they could do no wrong. He is survived by his wife Carol Nixon Weaver; his son Andrew Weaver and his wife Anita Ung of Champaign, Illinois, and their children Lily

Weaver and Bonnie Weaver; his daughter Alison Weaver and her husband Jeffery Ian Martin of Houston, and their children, Talia Weaver Martin and Maxwell Weaver Martin; and his brother Park Weaver and his wife Karen of San Diego, California.

Ralph faced the battle against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s with dignity and courage, and he never lost his sense of humor. His integrity and belief in fairness are examples to be followed.

A memorial service will be held at Christ Church Cathedral, 1117 Texas Avenue, Houston, Texas 77002, on Friday, February 16, 2024, at 11 o’clock in the morning. A reception will follow the ceremony.

If you would like to make a donation in Ralph’s memory, a gift to the Addison Gallery, Phillips Academy, Office of Academy Resources, 180

Main St., Andover, MA 01810, would be greatly appreciated.