Weber

John Markel Weber Sr. of Jacksonville, Fla., formerly of Renfrew, passed away Dec. 6.

John was born on Jan. 5, 1935, to the late David Markel Weber and Grace Herbison Weber in Renfrew, a small town along the train line north of Pittsburgh. He was the youngest of three siblings. His sisters, Mary Weber Kelly and Jean Weber, are both deceased.

He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1956 and married his college sweetheart, Lillis Ann Jane Gibson from Toronto, Canada, on Aug. 11 that same year.

John’s life centered on work, church and his family. John spent his career as an industrial engineer building train systems. There was always that “little boy” quality to his sheer joy in watching trains run their track. Even on his biggest projects, he never lost that passion.

John’s career spanned a gamut of big companies: Westinghouse, the Union Railroad, P&LE railroad, AIIE and New Jersey Transit. He built train systems for Washington, D.C., San Francisco, the Tijuana Trolley and the Jacksonville Skytrain in Fla., where he lived until his death.

He is survived by his wife, three children and four grandchildren. Lillis lives at Harbor Chase in Jacksonville. His children live here and abroad. Debora Weber-Wulff is a professor of media and computing at the University of Applied Sciences, HTW Berlin. She lives in Berlin, Germany, with her husband, Reinhold, and their son, Rade. Keith Weber is a choir director and organist in Houston, Texas, and also is the artistic director of the musical nonprofit organization Grace Note. John M. Weber Jr. is a global client partner for Cognizant Technology Solutions, a global delivery company whose clientele spans five continents. He lives in Fairfield, Conn., with his wife, Eileen, and their three children, Kathleen, Suzanna and Norah.

WEBER — A memorial ceremony for John Markel Weber Sr., who passed away Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 28, at the

Thompson-Miller Funeral Home, 124 E. North Street, Butler.In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the John and Lillis Weber Memorial/Honorary Fund with the Alzheimer’s Association: act.alz.org/site/TR?pxfid=32762&pg=fund&fr_id=1060 or P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090-6011.Information and a private guest book are available at www.thompson-miller.com.