John Weaver, OFM

1908 – 1977

Fr. John Weaver, OFM, was born on May 1, 1908, in Tionesta, Pa., and grew up in Buffalo, N.Y. He graduated from the St. Joseph’s Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon, N.Y.

In 1931, he entered the Province’s novitiate at St. Bonaventure Friary in Paterson, N.J., and professed his temporary vows the following year. He professed solemn vows in 1935. In 1938, Fr. John was ordained a priest in Washington, D.C.

After ordination, Fr. John was assigned to Lenoir, N.C., where he established a campus ministry at Appalachian State Teachers College in Boone, about forty miles from Lenoir. From 1942 to 1949, he was stationed at Siena College, Loudonville, N.Y., where he was a member of the philosophy department, spiritual director, and chaplain to military trainees.

In 1949, preaching became Fr. John’s full-time ministry when he joined the western mission band based in Denver. The following year, he went to St. Joseph’s Church in Winsted, Conn., where he ministered for eight years.

The final 18 years of Fr. John’s ministry were spent at St. Francis of Assisi Church in New York City. He devoted the last two years of his life to full-time ministry to the chemically addicted and served as the director of Alvernia.

He died Sept. 10, 1977, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Fr. John was 69 years old, a professed friar for 45 years and a priest for 39 years.