Uncle William Philip Weber, Renaissance Man and Inspiration

November 1st marks the sixth anniversary of the passing of my dear Uncle Bill.  He was an amazing man.  He was the loving and diligent caretaker of his mother, our Grandmother Susan for many years and without him she either would not have been able to stay in her home, or would have declined much earlier if left on her own.  As she lived to be 93 and a half years of age, she obviously did not have a shortened life!  Uncle Bill, as a young man during WWII, was a Conscientious Objector and in place of Army service was first a Smoke Jumper (firefighter) and later helped with the liberation of the Jews who had lived long enough to make it to the end of the War and survived the  concentration camps. He was a farmer,  professional photographer, and was in later years involved in local politics and was a visionary.  He was a man ahead of his time!  I came across this article from the La Crosse Tribune from January 21, 1979 and found it to be very interesting.  I have been to their home a number of times over the years and have always found it to be comfortable but I can't remember if any of my trips were in the winter!

 

I think it is very interesting that both my Uncle and my father built their "dream homes" aligned to the North Star.  Uncle Bill was looking for maximum sun exposure.  My dad, after years of being a Navigator on a variety of Air Force planes simply wanted his home aligned with the stars that he loved and knew many by name.  My parents also, while not having a solar heating system, had a solar water heating system and the solar panels heated the water in a hot water tank that dumped pre-heated water into two other electric water heaters (that rarely had to work very hard as the water came in very hot)

Uncle Bill would love all the progress that has been made since this article was written almost 36 years ago. 

The large windows, looking out on a somewhat wooded territorial view, creates a light, airy and still cozy environment. 

Uncle Bill sent the article above to my parents, who lived in Portland, Oregon, along with the following letter.  

Tue. 23 Jan 79

Bob and Bernadine,

Hi ~

            Just a short note. The furnace here at the studio has been out for the past week.  We have been using a couple of electric heaters in the darkroom and bathroom and have been able to carry on – expect a new furnace sometime this week.

            It’s been a cold, snowy January.  We have over 2 feet of snow on the ground.  Haven’t had any thawing since Christmas.  Did have 13 nice cold sunny days first part of Jan.  Old solar collector really worked good at that time (am enclosing a copy of an article that appeared in La Crosse Tribune.  But on the whole this winter we haven’t had much sunshine. Oh well, you win some and lose some.

            As you know we didn’t get any wood cut or bought for Mother.  So she has had to depend on the electric heaters for a large share of her heating this winter.  Well her last month heat bill came to $160 – what with her $140 SS check, it won’t even cover it.  Last winter we had the wood Kim and Brent cut so were able to get by. 

            So I was wondering if maybe all of us kids could throw in a few dollars and help cover this and the next bill.  I’ve been furnishing her with 90% of her food this winter and she was able to save enough to pay her taxes last year. However they are about $75 more this year - $815 which is half of what she takes in during the year.  She is planning on selling a few trees along the Eckelberg line as they are cutting lumber on Eckelbergs.  So next year shouldn’t be quite so rough.  She’s worried about the lite bill but I thought maybe if we each put in $25-$35 she could handle the rest.  What do you think?  Or should we borrow it from the bank and pay them back after the timber is sold?

            We are talking now of about $200 for the next 2 months.  She expects to get bail enough on her last years homestead tax credit to pay some on her taxes for this year.  She usually pays half in Jan and the rest in July.

            However, if the Dec heat bill was $160 the Jan bill will be $200 or more as it was a very cold Jan.  So if she can handle $200 out of her $280 for the next 2 mo and plus another $200-$300 tax refund that would leave a bal of 2 or 3 hundred dollars.  We might be able to get the heating bill extended on a budget plan so she could pay it off during the summer.  We will try, but for now I thought a nice birthday gift would be whatever we could afford toward the present bill.  If you got any ideas on this let me know.

            Mother is doing real well this winter. Taking care of herself in many ways.  I bake her bread a couple times a week and have been furnishing potatoes and carrots but we are about out of them (we had a poor garden last year).

            Everyone here is fine – wish you could all stop by and have dinner with us at our warm solar heated house (one sunny day)

            Love to all from all of us ~

                        Bill

[Grandma lived another 8 years after this was written.]



My dear Uncle Bill and with his wonderful wife and sweetheart twenty years after the letter. 

And here are Bill's children around 1962 (at the latest) with his mom, their grandma, for whom he cared so well. Cousins, not only were you so much younger then, but so was Grandma!  She looks relatively young in that photo!

William Philip Weber - 1919 to 2008 -- you are one in a million and you are not forgotten by any of us, no matter how many years go by!

Bill Weber was a loving son, husband and father, he was conscientious and loyal, honest and trustworthy.  And in spite of his self-proclaimed agnostic leanings over the years, I find it only fitting and symbolic that he passed away painlessly and peacefully on All Saint's Day.