Dr. Jerry L. Weaver, age 77, of Newark, OH died Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at his residence. His birth was registered, 9 March 1939 in Columbus, Ohio.
Weaver’s adoptive parents, Lee and Martha Weaver, precede in him death. A lifelong agnostic, Weaver had a deep admiration for Islam and Judaism and had many close friends in both communities.
A 1957 Newark High School graduate, he was a three-year class officer, along with his football teammate, Jim Tyrer. While in high school, Weaver joined the 737th Battalion of the Ohio National Guard where he served three years.
Weaver attended Ohio University, where he earned B.A. and M.A. degrees followed by a PhD in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh. During his academic career, he taught at the University of Texas at Austin, California State University Long Beach and UCLA. He published more than 50 books, monographs and articles. His 1976 book “Health Care and the Underserved” was named “Book of the Year” by the American Nurses Association.
In 1977 Weaver accepted what was supposed to be a one-year assignment as Social Science Analyst with the U.S. State Department. He resigned from UCLA in 1978 and joined the U.S. Foreign Service and was assigned to the USAID Mission to Sudan. He became Refugee Affairs Counselor in 1982.
In 1985, Vice President George Bush presented Weaver with the State Departments’ “Superior Honors” award for designing and leading “Operation Moses”, the clandestine movement of more than 10,000 Ethiopian Jews from Sudan to Israel.
Weaver returned in 1988 to Licking County and began his third career, raising cattle on his “Blue Nile Farm.” He served more than 16 years as a Licking County Parks Commissioner until he resigned in April 2011 after a heated rejection of the unwillingness of the County Commissioners to fund adequately the Park’s budget.
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