Obituary of Richard George Weeks Jr.

A loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, and friend, Richard George Weeks Jr. PhD., passed away on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, in Milford, Pennsylvania. 

The son of the late Richard George Sr. and Maxie (Ward) Weeks, Richard was born on October 29, 1944, in Rochester, Minnesota. 

In 1962, the St. Paul, Minnesota, rock and roll band, “The Deacons,” was formed with Dr. Weeks as saxophonist and vocals.  The Deacons toured throughout Minnesota and Western Wisconsin and in 1964, their original hit, “The Baldy Stomp,” ranked high in the charts.  In 1966, a 45 rpm record was issued with Dr. Weeks singing lead for “Empty Heart.”  The band disbanded in 1967, but was brought back together in 2010, when “The Deacons” were inducted into the Mid-America Music Hall of Fame.

Dr. Weeks valued education above all things and worked in college academia as a professor or administrator his entire career.   In 1977, he received his PhD from the University of Minnesota.  His dedicated journey took him to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona; Navajo Community College in Tzaile, Arizona; Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming; The Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio; and Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire. Dr. Weeks retired from West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, West Virginia in 2015, where he taught European History with an emphasis on the Holocaust.  He was the recipient of the 1996 Joseph Katz Award for distinguished contributions to the practice and discourse of general and liberal education.

Left to cherish his memory are his loving wife, Jacqueline Smith Weeks; daughters, Alexandra Hoffman (Dan), Jennifer Meyer (Paul) and Rachel Winsor (Greg); nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and his sister, Angela Ellison (Lee).

He was preceded in death by his daughter, Miranda Smith Weeks; son, Richard George Weeks III and sister, Dawne Pyles. 

Cremation was privately held at the convenience of the family at MacLennan Hall Crematorium, Milford, Pennsylvania. 

Final interment will be at the Pine Hill Cemetery, Peterborough, New Hampshire at a later date.