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Jo Weiser---Co Founder---In Memory of
One of CW Human Service’s original founders, Jo Weiser, passed away on May 9, 2020. She was 93 years old. She was a trailblazer and a nurturing soul all in one, and the mark she has left on our community is immeasurable. Truly, her life is one that touched more lives than anyone will ever know.
As we mourn the loss of such a woman, we remember her as vibrant and full of passion. Her zeal was sparked in 1955, when a local family lost their home and all their belongings in a house fire. She, along with Pat Hartman and Peggy Wood, thus began a campaign of compassion that grew over the years. Her circle of influence reached so many people, helping a multitude while inspiring others along the way to join her cause.
In 2005, Jo retired as the Welfare head after 25 years of dedicated service, but she continued to be an active member of the Executive Board of Directors until 2016. That same year, she accepted the Organization’s first and only lifetime appointment as “Emeritus,” honoring her 60+ years of faithful service and sacrifice.
For the entirety of those years that she served, her husband, Dick, was right there along her side with love and support for his wife and the people of Canal Winchester. Together, they were instrumental in being a lifeline of support from the very beginning. Jo suffered a deep loss when Dick passed away in 2016, but she continued to “sew” threads of dedication into the fabric of the Canal Winchester community, as she was an active member of Hope United Methodist Church and the Canal Winchester Historical Society.
In a newspaper article from *2012, Jo made the following reflective statement about the Weiser family’s contributions: “The biggest donation the Weiser family has made is in service to the schools and community.” As her family grieves her passing, there is no doubt that they will be comforted by the legacy of giving that their family has long-embraced.
One thing is for sure, there are some life stories that intertwine so significantly to other lives that their voices take on a life of their own, as if they had been lifted up and carried along with the wind to go where others had not gone before. Such is true of the name and voice of Jo Weiser. May the angels in heaven now sing with her.
*The Messenger Vol XXX, No. 14,