Obituary of Terrance Weber

Terrance Livingston Weber, age 87, formerly of Freehold, NJ passed away in his Cream Ridge, NJ home on May 21, 2015. A WWII Veteran, Terry served his country in the US Navy from 1945 until 1948. He served aboard the USS Dayton and recalled several ports of call in the Mediterranean. He is predeceased by his first wife Elizabeth Ruth Weber, a son Dennis Christian Wright and a grandson Aundre Riquelme. Terry is survived by his wife of 42 years, Doris Louise Weber; 10 children, Benjamin G Wright (Mary) of Bethlehem, PA, Scott A Weber (Linda) of Manalapan, NJ, Jeffery K Wright (Nona) of McCloud, OK, Robin E Weber, of Greely, CO David J Weber (Allison) of Livermoore, CO, Douglas D Wright (Darin) of Red Bank TN, Carol J Hutchison (Chaz) of North Plainfield, NJ, Jackie B Guarino (Mario) of Freehold NJ, Kimberly A Weber of Miami, FL and Kimberly C Lau of Rahway, NJ. He is also survived by 23 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren. Following his Naval service, Terry worked for his father, Hal Weber, at "Weber and Sons", eventually taking over in the 1950's. Under Terry's leadership, the business transitioned from time clock sales and service to eventually being a full service printing and mailing company. In 1967 Weber and Sons relocated to Highway 33and later to Route 9. Many area residents and commuters will remember the large yellow "Jesus Loves You Bookstore" sign for a subsidiary business that Terry and Doris ran at that location. Terry was an early adopter of computers to aid his writing, design and printing endeavors. A prolific inventor and innovator Terry, also operated "the Alaskan Trading Post" and, after semi-retiring from the printing/mailing business, began another business called, "Originals by Weber" marketing many of his inventions online. An avid reader, prolific hobbyist, and always eager to work with his hands; Terry built and flew his own gyrocopter, sailed a catamaran (the "Catspaw") that he built himself, and reconstructed antique canoes that he paddled in several states. An artist at heart, he produced and sold numerous oil paintings, handcrafted elaborate diamond-willow walking sticks, turned many candleholders, plates and bowls on his lathe, and carved award-winning birds among other woodcarvings. Terry held many patents, had his writings published, both in book form and many online articles, and had his work featured in a book about using NASA technology in the "real world". Terry, though down to earth, wasn't bound to it, in addition to sailing catamarans he also sailed numerous other craft from Sunfish to O'Days. Even when the water was frozen, Terry wanted to sail! He sailed iceboats on the Navesink River and even took his iceboat to New England in search of good ice. Earth and Water together couldn't contain him; he took to the air. In addition to flying his own gyrocopter, Terry took flying lessons, stopping just before the final solo fight for his license so he would have an excuse not to spend money on a plane. He exchanged advertising expertise for open cockpit biplane flights. For his 70th birthday he traveled to Stone Mountain, Georgia to learn hang gliding. His 80th birthday found him on a hot air balloon flight. If he had made it to his 90th he would likely have ended up on a space tourist shuttle flight. Born on Mischief Night (October 30, 1927) Terry took it as a challenge and with an ever-present twinkle in his eye went about making his mischief. He was particularly fond of April Fools Day, treating it as a national holiday. He taught his children to sing sea shanties (not always with lyrics for polite company.) His grandchildren learned from Grand-Pop how to draw glasses and mustaches on magazine models. Generations of children can't tell their brains from their kidneys due to Terry's "anatomy lessons". He was so committed to fun that he even fooled his hospice nurses, waiting to pass in the early hours of "Red Nose Day" Terry always made time for others. He sought to bring out the best in others. A Cheerleader in High School, he always tried to put a smile on everyone's face. "You Are My Sunshine" was one of the many favorites that he was known to sing, Terry was a member of First Baptist Church of Freehold and then for the past 30 years a member of Gateway Community Church in Manalapan. Devoted to his church work, he served in many areas, from youth ministry to prison ministry. He was a prayer warrior, lay leader, Deacon and Elder. Terry was not one to be "So Heavenly minded that he was no Earthly good." He opened his home to anyone who needed a place to lay their head - "Fresh Air" kids, young people working at Great Adventure, and foster children, his wife's maiden aunt, and even his daughter's family after a house fire. After semi-retiring he and Doris bought an RV and spent 8 years traveling the U.S. building houses for Habitat for Humanity. They were active in a group of RVing Habitat volunteers known as the "Care-A-Vanners," at times serving as group leaders on different jobsites. They participated in the 2003 Jimmy Carter Work Project in LaGrange, Georgia Terry led many family camping trips: with children and grandchildren: to New England, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and several "Fishnet" Christian music festivals in Virginia. He and Doris traveled to the Holy Land to visit their son and his family who were living in Israel. The maiden voyage of their RV was a 4-month trip to Alaska, a life long dream for both. He was a family man, as a father of 11 kids is bound to be. He loved having family together in big and small groups. And was equally content to spend time one-on-one. Even when the gathering grew loud, which it normally did, Terry remained quiet, smiling and taking it all in. He was an eager host at "Wee Haven," the family cottage on Kettle Creek in the Silverton Section of Toms River. (During their RV days "Silverton" became Home Base for Terry and Doris, and remained so until super-storm Sandy) Silverton was not only a place from which to sail out to Barnegat Bay, but also provided a fun filled adventure for crabbing, canoeing, swimming, and paddle boating. He was a listening ear and gentle advisor. At a family wedding he could be counted on to dance with his daughters, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters. A jitterbug, polka, or slow dance - he was ready to hit the floor with a smile on his face. Terry had a saying for every situation from: "Watch out for your shipmates," "Today is a laughing day," "Yes, Dear," and "Wow, what a ride" to "Praise the Lord," Relatives and friends are invited to attend his 2:00 PM memorial service on Saturday, August 8, 2015 at Old Tennent Church, 450 Old Tennent Road, Manalapan. A celebration will follow at Deep Run Community Center, Longview Drive, Cream Ridge. For information, directions, or condolence messages to the family, visit www.claytonfuneralhome.com. In lieu of floral tributes, please consider a donation to Special Olympics Somerset County (NJ), your local Habitat for Humanity affiliate or The American Cancer Society.