Laura H. Weaver, 93, died April 18, 2025, in Evansville, Ind. She was born Dec. 14, 1931, in New Holland, Pa., to Jacob S. and Margaret (Hursh) Weaver.
She graduated from Eastern Mennonite College in 1955 then taught English at Belleville Mennonite School in from 1955 to 1957. She developed friendships with her students that lasted 70 years until her death.
She received a master’s degree in 1959 from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia before teaching at Eastern Mennonite College and then at Bluffton College. She received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas in 1977.
Laura landed at the University of Evansville in Indiana, where she taught in the English Department from 1980 until her retirement in 1999. In her academic life, she explored questions of identity related to her journey from early life in a conservative Mennonite community to life among more liberal Mennonites. Her gradual decision to stop wearing a Mennonite head covering remained symbolic of this change.
A lifelong Mennonite, she found a religious home at both Patchwork Central and First Presbyterian Church in Evansville.
Laura was the keeper of birthdays for everyone in her life. She loved flavorful food, a handsome cat, a good book, a bawdy joke, a good four-part Mennonite hymn and a clever conversation. She was always gracious and delighted in every small kindness.
She leaves behind a global network of countless friends, colleagues and former students; her second family among the Patchwork Central Worship Community; and her biological family: four nieces and a nephew and their children and grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Dorcas (Weaver) Herr.
She was buried in Pike Mennonite Cemetery in Lancaster County, Pa. Memorial contributions may be made to Patchwork Central, where a memorial service was held May 10.
