Ralph Waldo Weaver, Jr.

June 29, 2017

Ralph Waldo Weaver, Jr., 85, of Bainbridge, Ga.., formerly of Stone Mountain, Ga.., passed away Thursday, June 29, 2017. Online visitors may sign the guest register at

www.iveyfuneral.com. Memorial donations may be made to: Friends Ministries, P. O. Box 513, Bainbridge, GA 39818, or Bainbridge-Decatur County Humane Society, 1250 Cox Avenue, Bainbridge, GA 39819.

Ralph Waldo Weaver, Jr. was born November 5, 1931, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the son of Ralph Waldo Weaver, Sr. and Clarice Parrish Weaver. In 1979, Ralph moved from Stone Mountain making his home in Decatur County. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Georgia Tech and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire and a Master’s degree in Visual Arts from Georgia State University. Ralph served his country during the Vietnam War in the United States Air Force and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel with twenty years of service.

During his military career, Ralph served as a pilot on the C-124 and engineer on an SR-71 Blackbird, F-111,F-15, B-1 and C-47. As an artist, Ralph appreciated beauty in its natural state especially when he was fishing. He loved sharing his passion for art. He taught drawing and painting at Bainbridge College and Thomas University and a stained glass class at Tyndall Air Force Base. He lectured on stained glass and pottery at local high schools and was featured in the Post Searchlight for his work. Ralph owned Spring Creek Pottery, a place where he could create art and tell a few fishing stories with the locals.

Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Mary L. Weaver; his daughter, Mary Sharon Foulk and her husband, Dennis, of Brinson, Ga.; his siblings, Sondra Gillespie of Evans, Ga., Margaret Hyde of Gainesville, Ga. and James R. Weaver of Clearwater, Fla.; and his grandson, Harrison Ross Martin of Chicago, IL. Ralph was preceded in death by his parents; his daughter, Nancy Jean Weaver Martin; and his brother, John Roy Weaver.