George Herbert Anthony Weiler

The Reverend Father Anthony Weiler (born George Oliver on November 27, 1929) passed away on January 4, 2013 in Sun City, California. He passed peacefully in the loving care of his niece, Judy Brown. A rosary, viewing and funeral Mass for Father Anthony Weiler will be held on Saturday, January 19, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. at the Maronite Cathedral, Our Lady of Mount Lebanon-Saint Peter at 333 South San Vidente Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048. A private interment will be scheduled for a later date.

Father Weiler, born in Gloucester, Massachusetts was a long time resident of Rockport, Massachusetts. His native Cape Ann was a place he loved for its scenic beauty and its New England charm. He spent most of his final years in Shelburne, Vermont, as administrator of the Maronite St. Rafka Retreat Center.

The second of six children of John and Mary Oliver, he is preceded in death by his brothers, John Oliver, James LeRoy Kelly, David Norman Riemer, and Donald Weiler, and by his sister, Joan L. (Kelly) Bennett.

As a high school student, Father Weiler won a four year scholarship to the Boston Museum of Fine Art and attended and graduated the Boston School of Commercial Art. He was a gifted landscape artist, working extensively in watercolors and oils.

He served his country in the United States Coast Guard for three years, seeing duty attached to a Coast Guard Cutter and stationed with the U.S.C.G. Search and Rescue Center in Boston.

He next joined the Paulist Fathers, attending the College of Saint Paul-their seminary in Washington, D.C.-and earning a Ph. B. in Philosophy. He subsequently received a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Boston College.

He began a long career in education as a teacher at Gloucester High School, moving on to Sturbridge High School and finally to Beverly High School. In each of these schools, he was an active member of the faculty, teaching a wide variety of classes.

Upon retiring from teaching he was ordained as a priest in the Maronite Catholic Church. As a Maronite priest he served congregations in St. Paul, Minnesota, Fall River, Massachusetts and served as administrator at St. Rafka Retreat Center in Shelburne, Vermont. In all the parishes and especially in his work in Vermont, Father Weiler was beloved by his parishioners and devoted to his vocation and service.

Father Weiler was also known and deeply loved as Uncle George by numerous nieces and nephews-by the daughter of his brother, John: Cynthia; by the children of his sister, Joan: Cheryl Bennett, Mark Bennett, and the later Joseph "Joey" Bennett: and by the children of his brother, David Norman Riemer: David Walter Riemer, Debi Tejeda, Gregory Riemer, Marlene Heath, Judy Brown, Elizabeth Schulze, and Christina Riemer, as well as numerous children of his nieces and nephews. He will be greatly missed by them and by his sister-in-law Judy Riemer.