George F. Weida

George F. Weida, 80, of Ruscombmanor Township passed away on October 29, 2025. He was born in the Lancaster Hospital to the late Rev. Willard G. Weida and Cleonice M. (Bleiler) Weida. Surviving is his wife Martha O. (Oerther) Weida of 55 years, his sons, George J. Weida (Kristina) of Elmore, VT and Peter A. Weida of Harrisburg,and his daughter, Gretchen Belinger (Robert Paul Belinger III) of Leesport. He also has four grandchildren: Owen A. Weida, Saffron A. Weida, Robert Paul Belinger IV (Paul), and Brock V. Belinger. Other survivors include his sister, Kathryn Schaeffer, his brother Richard (Nancy), and sister-in-law Denise Weida. He was predeceased by a brother, Robert Weida.
He attended Parkland School District for eleven years, but graduated from Kutztown Area High School in 1963. He then attended Kutztown State University, graduating in 1966 followed by graduate studies at University of Kentucky (with a masters in 1968) working as a teaching assistant. He then worked for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, first as an application programmer, then as a systems programmer. Finally, he was employed by General Public Utilities Service Corporation as a system programmer in data communications. In 2022 after the company was purchased by First Energy he was downsized out of a job. During his employment at GPU, he created the "Hardware/Software System." He also set up the connection from the GPU network to the IBM network and then from GPU network to the Internet. He oversaw the first Internet firewall between the two networks. He also ran the AS/400, the email server.
One of the regrets of leaving Kentucky for Pennsylvania was that the national convention where three Lutheran denominations joined together was going to be held in Louisville, KY and he had hoped to observe the convention. He was fortunately elected to be a member of the Northeast Synod delegation to that convention and voted to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
While living in Frankfort, KY a local pastor got him involved with church finances which he continued until 2008. That also got him into charities as a treasurer. He was treasurer of the Oley Valley Music Association from 1990-2002 and chaperoned the band's parades and trips, including many trips to Florida, Niagara Falls, and Virginia. He was also treasurer of the Oley Valley Boy Scouts and chaperoned the scouts to Hawk Mountain, Camp Massawepie in the Adirondacks, Philmont National Boy Scout Camp in New Mexico, and the Boundary waters in Minnesota/Canada. He was the cookie daddy for the local girl scout troop when his daughter was a member. He was the treasurer of the local Thrivent Chapter and Thrivent Builds/Habitat for Humanity. When Hurricane Andrew hit Florida, he was part of the crew to help clean up after the hurricane. This continued with disaster trips to Ohio, Outer Banks, and at least three times to the gulf states. He also helped at the Oley Valley Community Fair.
The many trips gave him the wandering bug and in 2010, he purchased a class A motor home. To escape the cold weather, he would head south, then west, then finally to Fallon, Nevada where his daughter and son-in-law lived, then east to the Salt Lake area where his son and daughter-in-law lived. He then decided to try to visit all the National parks, monuments that his RV could travel to, and many state parks. Covid-19 prevented him from finishing his goal of visiting all the national parks/monuments accessible with an RV. He had visited over 300 of the 418 with many of them overseas or in Alaska, inaccessible with an RV. He did travel through the Yukon and Alaska.
A service of comfort for friends and family will be held at Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1076 Memorial Highway, Oley, on November 22, 2025 at 11 a.m. There will be a visitation held from 10-11 a.m. in the church.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: Rev. Willard G. and Cleonice M. Weida scholarship at the United Lutheran Seminary, 61 Seminary Ridge, Gettysburg, PA 17325.
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