Angelo John Weda Jr.

A Rosary will be held at 6 PM Monday, June 1, 2015 at Bratcher Funeral Home Chapel with visitation to follow.

Funeral Mass will be held at 10 AM, Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at Saint Patrick Catholic Church with Reverend Stephen Mocio officiating. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be members of the 4th degree Knights of Columbus chapter # 830 and members of The Color Core.

Angelo was born Wednesday, May 15, 1940 in Denison, Texas. He was the son of Angelo John Weda, Sr. and Marie Hamm Weda.

He attended Raynal Elementary, McDaniel Junior High and Denison Senior High School graduating in 1958.

In 1958, he joined the National Guard.

However, he was proud to finish his tour of duties as a member of the United States Navy.

Early in life he was employed by The Johns Manville Company. He became a union steward for the IAM (International Association Of Machinist) and later he became a business agent representing Johns Manville, Safeway, and numerous other plants. After moving to Houston he helped open Eastex Bingo, Family Bingo, Boot Kickers Bingo and Bingo Wonderland. He was associated with the following tour bus companies: Gray Line Tours of Houston, Coach USA, Coach America and at the time of his death First Class Tours of Houston.

Throughout his life Angelo lived in the following Texas towns: Denison, Allen, Humble, Houston, Clear Lake and spent many memorable moments with family and friends at his lake house on Lake Livingston. He returned to his hometown of Denison in 2009, where he lived until he went to live with the Lord.

Angelo was diagnosed with asbestosis in 2000 and later diagnosed with mesothelioma. He was treated at Texas Oncology in Denison and went into remission. In 2015 he came out of remission and was accepted into a research study at the Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center in Dallas, knowing that there was little hope to prolong his own life, but hoping it would help others in the same situation.

During his lifetime he was very proud of several accomplishments including: meeting 3 US presidents, Jimmy Carter, George H Bush, and George W. Bush. He often commented how much he enjoyed time spent with Barbara Bush and her dog Millie.

He was also proud to have helped organize a class action suit against the Johns Manville Company for people that worked with asbestos, and later developed asbestosis and mesothelioma. This suit helped many of his fellow workers receive medical care. To facilitate these benefits for others, he waved his own right to later sue if he ever developed mesothelioma.

In 1940 he was baptized, but was most proud when he and his wife Lazelle were confirmed into the Catholic faith in 2012 at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. He became involved in church activities and was most proud of becoming a 4th Degree Knight with the Knights of Columbus in chapter #830, where he was also a member of The Color Core.

In 2012 during work up for the mesothelioma, Angelo suffered a stroke which rendered him speechless. He worked diligently with speech therapists to relearn how to speak, for which he was honored by the Texoma Medical Center Speech Therapy Department with a news story on Channel 12.

During his life Angelo was fortunate enough to be able to travel extensively throughout the United States including both Alaska and Hawaii. He also enjoyed international travel to Mexico, Europe, and Italy. He has said many times his favorite trip of all time was the one at the back of the bus with Father Mocio in Italy.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Angelo John Weda, Sr. and Mary Hamm Weda, as well as, his brother Tony Weda.

He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Lazelle Odle Weda and sisters, Wanda Jean Palmer and Josephine (Jo) Annette Bayne and her husband Biff.

Children: Rhonda Jean Weda Spence, Angelo John Weda, III (Jay) and wife Kim, Larry Wayne Brockman and wife Lindi.

Grandchildren: Sean, Jordan, Nicole, Tori, and Mack.

Great-grandchildren: Bently and Aubree. As well as, many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

The family would like to thank the following people for their role in the care of Angelo for the last few years: Dr. Ted Truly, Dr. Don Wynn and his staff, Dr. Srinivasa Reddy, Dr. Imran Siddiqi and the Texas Oncology Staff, The staff at Texoma Medical Center, and a special thanks to Teresa Polonchak from Country Style Home Heath.

Family request in lieu of flowers please send donations for The 2nd Century Restoration of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Make checks payable to St. Pat's Restoration and mail to 314 N. Risk Ave., Denison, TX 75020.