Robert Allen Weaver

1926 - 2019

Robert Allen Weaver

Grass Valley, CA - Robert Allen Weaver died July 10, 2018 at the age of 92 in Grass Valley, California. He was laid to rest, with military honors, at Arlington National Cemetery on April 9, 2019, near his grandson. Bob was a Navy veteran of WW II and Korea, and a major contributor to the US space program in its first several decades.

Born May 25, 1926, Bob enlisted in the Navy in 1942 at the age of 16 and served aboard the battleship USS Nevada for most of the war. He was aboard her for the capture of Attu, Alaska, the invasion of North Africa, D-Day, and the Battle of Iwo Jima. He then volunteered for submarine duty, serving in that capacity until the end of the war and after being recalled to active duty for the Korean War.

He completed his high school education and then graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Tufts University in 1953. He went to work for North American Aviation in Downey, CA., on the F-86 and F-86D fighters. He transferred to the Space Division and was involved in the Navaho and Hound Dog missile programs before becoming Rockwell's director on the S-II stage of the Saturn V rocket, then the Apollo Command and Service Module, and finally the Space Shuttle program, from its inception. Bob retired in 1991 after 38 years of service.

Bob is survived by his wife Lola Clark Weaver, son Donn Weaver (Jeanne), daughter Rebecca Zingarelli (Michael), stepson Eric Bianchi (Debra), stepdaughter Dana DeYoung, stepdaughter Hollis Lazo (Don), sister Dorothe Hansen, brother Ted Weaver (Yvonne), 11 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by brothers Nick and Dick Weaver, grandson Todd Weaver (killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010 and buried nearby in Arlington), and first wife Sonia Thresher Richardson.

Your grateful family and nation salute you - and pay honor to your service.