Chris Weedy

1954 - 2021

Chris Weedy
November 18, 1954 - March 10, 2021
Raleigh, North Carolina - Chris (Mary Christine) Weedy died on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, of carcinosarcoma, a rare and aggressive ovarian cancer. She was born in Nelsonville, Ohio on November 18, 1954 to the late Robert Carleton Weedy and Sharma Lou Phillips Weedy. She is survived by her husband, Jimmy Creech (Raleigh); daughter, Natalia Weedy (Durham); step-son, Jubal Creech (Chiang Mai, Thailand); sisters, Kathy Wiseman (husband Chuck, Russells Point, OH) and Becky Weedy (Logan, OH); brothers, Mark Weedy (wife Betty, Carroll, OH) and Paul Weedy (wife Lisa, Dahlonega, GA); sisters-in-law Alice Wilson (Raleigh) and Frances Allen (Goldsboro, NC); and, godson, Sebastian Garcia, son of Sugey Garcia (Raleigh).
Chris considered herself a farmgirl, having lived the first 13 years of her life on a farm in Windham, Ohio. She was active with the 4-H Club and won a blue ribbon for her cow, Dinah, whom she raised and cared for. Throughout her life, her love for gardening and animals gave her great pleasure.
In 1967, her family moved to Logan, Ohio, where Chris graduated High School. In her Junior year, she organized the first Powder-Puff (all girls, with uniforms, pads, helmets and tackling) football game, Juniors vs. Seniors, to raise funds for the annual prom. She played center. A tradition that continues to this day.
Chris graduated from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in 1977, with a BA degree in Psychology and Sociology and a concentration in Social Work. She was a Health Educator with the Peace Corps in Chile from 1978-1981, an experience that greatly shaped the direction and values of her life. She gave birth to her daughter, Natalia, in 1981. Prior to and after her time with the Peace Corps, Chris worked as a medical social worker at University Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio.
In 1984, Chris moved with Natalia to North Carolina to attend the UNC-CH School of Social Work. She worked as a medical social worker with migrant farm workers at Prospect Hill Community Health Center in the summer of 1985, where, among other duties, she taught Hispanics driver's education. Because the NC Driver's License Study Guide was in English only, she translated it into Spanish with help from two friends from Spain and Mexico. For many years after, mimeographed copies of her translation could be found in small country stores across North Carolina, until the NC Department of Transportation finally published a Spanish version of the study guide.
In 1986, Chris graduated from UNC-CH with a Master's degree in Social Work. After graduation, she worked as a therapist at Family Services of Wake County, Inc. in Raleigh where she started the first HIV/AIDS support group in North Carolina. Chris led this group from 1987 to 1996 and 1999 to 2012. Because of her pioneering work with HIV/AIDS, she was recruited in 1988 to work with the Pediatrics Infectious Disease Department at Duke Medical Center. There she developed the department's first psycho-social services program for children and their mothers who were HIV+ or had AIDS. Discovering that state funding for children with AIDS in foster care was woefully inadequate, about $350 per month, Chris drafted legislation to increase the funding to $1,000.00 per month to help cover the special needs and medical cost of children with AIDS. With support from State Representatives Howard Hunter, Jr. and Speaker of the House, Dan Blue, the legislation passed on the first try, while most legislation takes years to pass.
Chris was a founding member of the AIDS Service Agency of Wake County (now the Alliance for AIDS Services NC) in 1989, and served first as its board vice-president and then president. She supervised six pediatric HIV social workers in the NC AIDS Network and served as staff to the NC Children's AIDS Network Community Advisory Board. In 1991, Chris traveled to La Paz, Bolivia on behalf of Family Health International, to consult with USAID and nationals on an HIV pre-test/post-test counseling project with Bolivian prostitutes. Chris maintained a private practice as a psychotherapist from 1988-1996.
In July of 1992, Chris married Jimmy Creech. Because both believed in the separation of Church and State, they were legally married by the judge in Small Claims Court at the Wake County Courthouse at 8:00 AM on Wednesday, July 8. They celebrated with milkshakes from a nearby grill and went to their respective jobs afterward. On Sunday, July 12, they affirmed their marriage with a traditional wedding service for family and friends in the backyard of their newly-purchased historic home in Boylan Heights, Raleigh.
Chris served as Co-Vice Chair (1994-1997) and Co-Chair (1997-1998) of the National AIDS Clinical Trials Group Pediatric Supportive Care/Quality of Life Committee, conducting research on how to improve the quality of life for children with HIV.
In 1996, Chris moved with her husband and daughter to Omaha, Nebraska, where she taught graduate and undergraduate students of Social Work at Creighton University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her contract with Creighton University was not renewed because she helped students organize a very popular petition drive to recognize and observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The university administration dismissed the petition and refused to acknowledge the national holiday. While in Omaha, she founded the Greater Omaha Inter-religious Network of AIDS Care Teams and served as president of its Board of Directors. She also volunteered at La Casa del Pueblo, a church-based program in South Omaha, providing services to Latinos.
Chris and her family returned to Raleigh, NC in the fall of 1998. She briefly worked for the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, providing support to ninety-three males on death row and their families. In 1999, she was the Assessment Manager for the Methodist Home for Children. In 2000, Chris began an extensive career as a psychiatric social worker, starting at Dorothea Dix Hospital (2000–2004). She was a Senior Practitioner with Wake County Human Services (2004-2009) providing outpatient psychiatric services to Hispanic and non-Hispanic clients in crisis. While in this position, she developed the Network for Spanish-speaking Therapists and Counselors for Wake County and the Network of Spanish-speaking Community Support professions. She also developed a Latino Resource Guide and the ICE PAK, a resource to help undocumented immigrants protect dependent children in the event the parents were deported and the children were left behind.
Chris worked part-time as a Senior Practitioner for Wake County's Crisis and Assessment Services, starting in 2002, becoming full-time in 2009. In 2012, she became a Clinical Instructor in the UNC School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, with Crisis and Assessment Services in Raleigh, retiring in May of 2020.
Throughout her career, Chris mentored and trained students and colleagues, social workers, nurses, EMTs and law enforcement personnel, in various areas of social work.
In 1994, Chris was awarded the Sandra E. Hendrickson AIDS Service Award by the Wake County Department of Health and the AIDS Service Agency of North Carolina, Inc. She was recognized as Tarheel of The Week by The News and Observer in January, 1996. That same year, she also received The Order of The Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina's highest civilian honor, presented to her by the Honorable James B. Hunt, Jr., Governor of North Carolina. Chris was given the Mental Health Advocate Award by the Latin American Women's Club and the Mental Health Association of NC in 2008 and the Orgullo de Nuestra Comunidad (Pride of Our Community) Award by Univision in 2009.
Chris was passionate about human rights and justice, especially for marginalized communities. She volunteered for many progressive candidates for public office over the years, including for City Council, State Legislature, governor, US Congress and president. She was an ardent door-to-door canvasser, spending many long evenings after work and weekends walking neighborhoods in Wake County during election seasons. In 2008, she was the Staging Location Director for Wake County, the highest volunteer position for the Obama Campaign. When the NC Legislature put a proposed amendment to the NC Constitution on the ballot in 2012 that would deny the right of same-gender couples to marry, Chris raised funds to create and purchase more than 13,000 yard signs opposing the amendment and distributed them across the state, from the coast to the mountains. For the 2016 gubernatorial election, she and her husband created a Political Action Committee for the purpose of distributing yard signs state-wide with the message, Flush McCrory and the GOP, prominently featuring the image of a toilet. This was in response to the NC General Assembly's passage in 2015 of the so-called "Bathroom Bill" that discriminated against transgender people, with Governor McCrory's support. The yard sign was very popular – 17,000 distributed – that had folks from all over the state eagerly picking them up from Chris' front porch and yard. Because of her experience with yard signs, James Protzman of Chapel Hill asked her to work with him in 2018 to create and distribute yard signs across the State that opposed several constitutional amendments proposed by Republican legislators that would do harm to NC citizens. Together, they distributed 14,000 yard signs.
When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 and it was announced that a national Women's March was being organized in protest, Chris recognized that many of the people she canvassed on behalf of Hillary Clinton would not have the means to travel to Washington, DC for the march. So, she and her good friend, Ann Fawcett, organized a Women's March to be held on the same date in Raleigh. Hoping for a gathering of at least 200, over 17,000 women and men came to Raleigh for the march.
In addition to her avid gardening, she enjoyed cooking, especially desserts. Cheesecakes were a specialty, and her Mocha Chocolate Cheesecake was extraordinary. She enjoyed cocktails, Old Fashioneds on the living room couch in front of a fire in the fireplace in the winter, and Mojitos on the back deck under the summer sun. For each camping trip to Ocracoke Island, she planned a special cocktail to enjoy in the evening after sunning all day on the beach.
Chris traveled to France, Italy and Spain with Jimmy several times over the years. Among her favorite places in Italy were Venice during the International Film Festival, Sperlonga, Florence, and Montepulciano. In France, Saint-Romain (Burgundy) and Paris. In Spain, Barcelona, Madrid and the Northwest Coast on the Bay of Biscay.
Chris lived passionately, often saying: "Seize the day," "Why wait?" and "Double the recipe." She believed the most important quality a person can have is integrity, and she had no tolerance for anyone who lacked it. She was courageous and compassionate, strong and gentle, relentless, patient and forgiving, unselfish and generous. She was a natural organizer (both of things and people), always finding ways for improvement and efficiency. She was energetic, productive, free, unafraid, unencumbered and bold. She loved music, art, documentaries, good food, good wine, taking care of people, working hard and playing hard. She could not have been a better mother or more loving wife, although she always wanted to be. Neither cancer nor death can diminish her beauty.
A memorial service for Chris will be held in the near future. Her cremains will be scattered at two of the places she loved dearly: Ocracoke Island and El Valle Choapa, Chile.
Chris was most grateful for the excellent medical care and support given to her by Paula S. Lee, MD, Gynecologic Oncologist and her team at Duke Hospital in Durham, the staff at Duke Women's Cancer Care in Raleigh, and the staff of Transitions Life Care. She was also grateful for the family members, friends and colleagues from near and far who loved and supported her in many ways, giving joy and comfort to the last months of her life. Natalia and Jimmy, too, are immensely grateful for all who loved and cared for her.