Mary Loretta Weathers

Born November 14, 1935, Loretta grew up in Atlanta, the middle child of Blanton George Alexander and Henrietta Agatha White, and sister to Blanton Edward Alexander and the late Veronica Louise Walden.

Loretta was the epitome of a “Southern Belle!” Having graduated from Southwest DeKalb High School, she was the Valedictorian of her class and was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” by her fellow classmates.

She went on to complete two years of college at Georgia State, where she met and married George Thomas Weathers upon his graduation from Georgia Tech. The couple moved to Gardena, California whereupon Tom began his career in the Air Force.

Although Loretta was academically gifted and extremely talented, these qualities did not define her; Loretta’s greatest desire was to be a wife and a mother. The essence of Loretta’s soul was defined by three qualities: her intellect and her love for learning, her deep Roman Catholic faith, and most importantly, her deep and intense capacity for love.

Loretta was a prolific and avid reader; many members of her family before her were masters of the language arts and she was no exception. She was a beautiful writer and read just about anything she could get her hands on – literally. Loretta was interested in learning about absolutely any and every subject. If she happened upon a television documentary on an underwater sea creature, she was glued to the set. If she happened to hear about some new medical discovery, she had to know every detail. She literally hung on every word of any classic novel, any television documentary, all the workings of Congress and any and all magazine articles – her favorites being National Geographic and Time.

She loved her Washington Redskins and memorized all the players and their statistics. She was absolutely thrilled and flabbergasted when presented with her first I-phone and realized that she could “look up” everything under the sun with a few keystrokes on Google. And of course, she loved to study the Scriptures.

Loretta came from a devout Roman Catholic family that was very traditional and she lovingly passed on those traditional practices and values to her two daughters. Because of her passion for learning she was able to deepen her faith through continuing Catholic education, and she delighted in taking courses in Scripture Study, History of the Church and Moral Theology.

Loretta not only studied and cherished her Catholic Christianity, but she truly LIVED it. She was the perfect example of the beautiful expression, “Preach the Gospel, using words ONLY when necessary.”

Lastly, to anyone who knew her, the defining quality of Loretta Weathers was her enormous and limitless capacity to love. She loved deeply, passionately, and selflessly; she was the physical embodiment of love.

Loretta is survived by her beloved brother, “Buddy” and her two daughters, Chris and Melissa, for whom her love and tenderness knew no bounds. She was also blessed with 6 beautiful grandchildren: Angela, Brittany, Madison, Lucas, Savannah and Charlotte.

Loretta was also blessed with a granddaughter named Courtney Ann, Angela and Brittany’s sister, who became God’s sweetest angel on October 6, 1987, and whom Loretta will joyfully meet for the very first time.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, May 13, 2022 at 4pm at Forest Lawn Funeral Home located at 5755 Mallory Road in College Park, Georgia. Burial will immediately follow at Greenwood Cemetery in Atlanta.