Alice Hughes Weber

Alice Hughes Weber of Knoxville, Tennessee, passed away on January 17, 2025, at the age of 99. Alice was born on April 6, 1925, in Oakland, California, to Don and Florence Hughes. While in high school, she worked at a government day care center for children whose parents were both contributing to the war effort, an experience that nurtured in her a deep love for working with children. She attended University of California at Berkeley, and graduated from Mills College in 1946 with a degree in education. She taught first grade in Elizabeth Borton Elementary and the Pueblo Garden School in Tucson, Arizona.

In Tucson Alice met the Reverend Charles Edward Weber, pastor of Broadway Christian Church. They were married on August 3, 1951, and for the next thirty-eight years Alice would take on the deeply important but often undervalued role of a pastor's wife. During her years of church ministry, Alice served the communities in which she lived, holding positions on countless committees and boards, performing countless hours of volunteer service within and outside the church.

Their first two children, Margery Eugenia and Charles Frederick, were born in Tucson. In 1954 the family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where a second set of Weber children, Donald Edward and James Lawrence, were born. Alice continued her partnership in ministry with Ed in 1958 when they moved to Marion, Ohio, to serve at Central Christian Church and later to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in 1968 at First Christian Church.

As the Weber children began to leave the nest, Alice resumed her career in education, earning a master's degree from the University of Tennessee in 1977 and teaching adult education at the Knoxville State Area Vocational Technical School. Later that same year Ed and Alice moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where she taught adult education at The Nashville State Technical Institute, and they continued their church ministry partnership at Eastwood Christian Church.

In 1982 they moved to Black Mountain, North Carolina, to serve at First Christian Church and a part-time, interim pastorate at United Church of Christ. Retiring from professional church ministry in 1989, Ed and Alice moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1994 to be closer to their growing family. They became active members in Northside Christian Church.

A natural and lifelong teacher and hostess, Alice was never happier than when she was nurturing others. She came alive in relationships and deeply enjoyed providing the happy context in which family and friends could talk, laugh, sing, play, eat, worship, and celebrate. She sang in the choir at every church she served, accompanied on the piano when called upon, and helped shape her family's musical (and many other) gifts.

Alice had a simple faith in the loving God who is perfectly embodied in Jesus' welcoming invitation for all who are weary to "come unto me." But she expressed her faith in day-to-day acts of love and service, showing her children, grandchildren, and friends that they were all "special" to her.

In their last years Ed and Alice's love blossomed into an iconic example of what marriage can be. They held hands, sang to one another, and shared nearly every moment together, blessing others with their sweetness. Toward the end of her life, Alice looked forward to being with God and her beloved husband of seventy-two years who passed exactly one year to the day before she did.

Alice Weber is preceded in death by her husband Charles Edward Weber and her parents Donald and Florence Hughes. She is survived by her sister Margery Sanborn, her four children, Margery Weber Bensey, Charles Weber (Renee), Don Katahdin, Jim Weber (Melony Pugh-); her nephews Russell McKinley (Nancy), Virginia McKinley, and Richard McKinley; and her eleven grandchildren, Kiernan Bensey, Cristina Weber, Alicia Schenck-Mahnke (Cody), Marci Weber, Lilia Weber, Grace Weber, Charles Weber, Arthur Katahdin, Sonia Katahdin, Alex Weber, and Mae Pugh-Weber (Ethan Miller).

"A memorial service for Alice Weber is scheduled for Saturday, March 29 at Northside Christian Church, 4008 Tazewell Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918. Visitation will be held at 1pm, and the service will begin at 2 pm. 

Donations may be given in Alice Weber's honor to:

Touchstone Youth Resource Services, Inc., an organization that provides social, emotional, character, and spiritual resources for teens and young adults: Donations can be made through tyrs.org.

Northside Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Week of Compassion offering: Donations can be mailed to the church, 4008 Tazewell Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918.

Christmount Christian Assembly, The National Conference Center for the Christian Church Disciples of Christ: Donations can be made through christmount.org/support.

Condolences may be sent to 2903 East Fifth, Apartment 102, Knoxville, TN  37914."