Barbara R. Weeks

Barbara “Bobbie” Weeks, beloved wife of Hedley “Ted”, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, passed away peacefully on November 26 in Overlook Hospital. She was born November 29, 1928, in Englewood, NJ, to Edwin and Veronica Rollka. After graduating from Teaneck High School, she attended Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA, and earned a degree in English Literature. She spent the rest of her life reading voraciously and shared that love with hundreds of children. Every young adult from Mountainside remembers being read to by “Mrs. Weeks”.

Bobbie met Ted on a blind date, and they were married on January 30, 1954. In 1956, Bobbie and Ted moved to Mountainside and lived in the same house on Meeting House Lane ever since. The newly established Community Presbyterian Church was two blocks away and became a focal point for the rest of her life. She co-founded the nursery school at the church and read to the children there for 15 years. She also established a group of volunteers to read to students in the Mountainside public schools for 40 years. For this dedicated service to the community, she was given the Mabel Young Good Neighbor Award in 1993.

She was predeceased by her daughter, Lindsay, in 1982, and is survived by Ted; daughters Kathleen Flath (Jim), Kristy Boyce (Wayne), Laurie Thomas (Pat), and Leslie Weeks; grandchildren Evan, Ben, Michael, Jamie, Julianne, David, Lindsay, Ronnie, and Craig; and great grandchildren Mira, Charlie, Lily, Danny, Ella, Mackenna, and Emmy.

In addition to being an avid reader, Bobbie loved her cats. In her final years, it seemed there was always one cat on her lap and another on the back of her chair while she was reading. She and Ted also loved traveling, having visited 24 foreign countries and much of the United States in their 68 years together. In 1976, they bought a weekend home in Tuxedo, NY. Coincidentally, both Bobbie and Ted had attended summer camp nearby during their youth. They spent countless hours birding, hiking, skiing, and canoeing in that area during the 40 years they owned “The New York House”. Bobbie was also a lifelong swimmer and could be found swimming laps at the Summit YMCA in the winter and with Ted at the Mountainside Community Pool in the summer. She loved playing tennis and was a longtime member of Westfield Tennis Club.

A memorial service will be held for her at the Community Presbyterian Church of Mountainside, 1459 Deer Path, on December 18 at 11:00am. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory can be made to the Community Presbyterian Church Nursery School.