Betty Jean Grant Weaver was presented with her boarding pass to heaven and went to be with the Lord on January 7, 2021. She was born November 23, 1943, in San Rafael, California, to Wilbur and Vivian Thompson Grant. Her father helped construct Victory ships and tankers as a welder for Marinship in Sausalito during the Second World War. At the conclusion of the war, she moved with her family to Modesto, California because the open Central Valley reminded her father of Minnesota farmland. Betty attended Wilson Elementary School, where her mother taught second grade. She was one of the early attenders of La Loma Jr. High School, where she later taught English, then went on to graduate from Thomas Downey High School, where she later taught Spanish and French for over 20 years.
She attended Modesto Junior College, and then San Francisco State University, majoring in French and minoring in Spanish. During her senior year, she studied in Aix-en-Provence, France, spending a memorable Christmas in Switzerland with her lifelong friend, Elisabeth, and her family. To the very end, thanks to her year abroad, she said that France remained one of her favorite places outside the United States. Although desiring a master’s degree in French, the immediate need to earn a living led her to California State University Sacramento, where she sought, and obtained, teaching credentials in French and Spanish. During her 33 years as an educator, Betty taught French, Spanish, and English at Department of Defense schools in Okinawa and Tokyo, Japan, as well as in Bakersfield and Salinas, California. After moving to Modesto, she taught at Beyer High and La Loma Junior High before settling into her teaching career at Thomas Downey High School.
Betty grew up attending First Baptist Church (now Crosspoint Community Church), and was a strong supporter of the Modesto community through her involvement in Plant-A-Seed, and Youth for Christ’s Tapestry program. She also established a Thomas Downey High School scholarship program for graduating seniors who have excelled at learning a foreign language. She was an active member in the California Language Teachers Association. While representing Downey’s foreign language department in the faculty senate for seven years, she was known for always advocating on the side of fairness. She delighted in taking her students on summer trips to Spain, and served as Downey students’ American Field Service club advisor for many years. She loved entertaining colleagues, friends, and family in her home, and participating in water aerobics. She was known by many as a smiling, laughing, loving friend, family member, mentor, educator, home designer and builder, world explorer, and believer in Christ, who savored every beautiful moment life had to offer. While recounting her life story in 2019, she said her proudest accomplishment, and all she ever wanted in this life, was her daughter, Kristen. Her next favorite was her Schipperke dog, Leila.
Betty was an avid traveler who strove to explore as much of the globe as possible, and who savored unique dining experiences. The queen of timeshare management and a lover of Pacific Ocean whales, she traveled many a year, with beloved friends and family, to Hawaii and Mexico to behold the whale migration and birthing seasons. Toward the end of her life journey, she was excited about donating her brain for environmentally-caused frontotemporal dementia research at University of California San Francisco’s Memory and Aging Center. She said the ultimate place left on her travel list was heaven.
Betty is survived by her daughter, Kristen Weaver, her son-in-law, Natnael Ashebir, her grandson, Gebriel Ashebir, her former “first” husband for 17 years of marriage, John Weaver, her eldest brother and sister-in-law, Curtis and Nancy Grant, older brother, Allen Grant and former sister-in-law Carol (Gary) Vollrath, former brother-in-law Robert (Jackie) Weaver, as well as beloved nieces and nephews, Eric (Kami) Grant, Ryan (Anne) Grant, Julie Grant and her former husband, David Weiss, Jeffrey Grant and his son’s mother, Melissa Bridegroom, Jami (Clement) Labrouche, and Rebecca (Greg) Smit. She is preceded in death by her parents, Wilbur and Vivian Grant.
A private graveside service will take place at Lakewood Memorial Park. Once the novel coronavirus pandemic has been contained, the family will host a memorial service at Crosspoint Community Church and, per Betty’s wishes, a Hawaiian-style reception. In lieu of flowers, Betty asked that donations be made to the Betty Grant Weaver Excellence in Language Scholarship Fund at Thomas Downey High School, Modesto. The school has requested that checks be made out to Thomas Downey High School at 1000 Coffee Road, Modesto, CA 95355, memo line: Betty Grant Weaver Scholarship.
Betty’s family expresses their sincerest gratitude to Pacifica Senior Living and Community Hospice in Modesto for their excellent care--especially during this time of COVID.
v.1.1.3