Weir marks 65 years with DAR
PENN TWP — They're running out of titles to give Ann Weir, just as she's running out of room for medals on her sash.
She's accumulated plenty of both during her 65-year career with the Daughters of the American Revolution.
She joined the group's Mary Barlett chapter in 1946 in Washington, D.C. When she married Edgar Vaulx Weir, one of the three founders of the Magnetics research laboratory in 1951 and moved to Butler in 1952 , she transferred to the DAR's General Richard Butler Chapter.
Weir has served as regent for both chapters, as well as recording secretary, vice regent, page and public committee member for the Mary Barlett chapter and as secretary, chaplain and vice regent for the Butler chapter.
She is a member of the DAR's National Officers Club and has served as regent and vice regent on the state level.
And she served as historian general for the national DAR, one of few from Pennsylvania to serve in such a capacity, said Carol Kristufek, regent of the Butler DAR chapter.
“She's had a very active 65 years,” Kristufek said.
Weir said she's hosted luncheons at her home on Brownsdale Road for 25 years as fundraisers for the Butler chapter.
“For the last two years we've been having lunches here for the Central Northwest Regents Club to make money for the chapter,” said Weir. “I have an annual tea in September that enables our club to have some money to donate to the community.”
She also served on the planning committee, as well as the board of trustees, for the Tamassee DAR School in Tamassee, N.C., one of six schools the DAR supports through donations of money and time. The Tamassee school is a boarding school for children who have been abused or are from troubled families.
“I enjoy seeing the little children and helping them, and they appreciate us,” Weir said. “That one I was introduced to through the other chapter. When we provided gifts other than money, it was shoes and pants and I used to say we had the walking end.”Asked about the best memory she has of her long career with the DAR, Weir said, “I guess being the national historian and helping people all over the U.S. and foreign countries. It's amazing the friendships and experiences you gain.”She estimated she traveled 15,000 miles a year on DAR business during her membership.She still serves as chairman for the restoration effort of the Madonna of the Trail statue along Route 40 in Beallsville in Washington County.It is one of 12 memorials commemorating the spirit of the woman pioneer that the National Society of the DAR erected in the late 1920s. These memorials were located along the route of the National Old Trails highway and extended from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles.Unfortunately, the memorials haven't proved to be as nearly enduring as the feminine spirit they celebrate.“We keep an eye on it. Last year, we spent $4,000 on general upkeep,” said Weir, adding the money was raised through the sale of baskets and chances at the DAR's last national conference.“It's made of a very perishable stone and the site needs constant upkeep,” said Weir.And Weir is currently the historian of the Butler chapter.“It's still nice to be as active as I can with restrictions,” said Weir.Since a requirement for DAR membership is to have an ancestor who fought in or provided supplies for the Revolution, the Edgar V. Weir Foundation provided funding for the Weir Genealogical Library at the Butler Public Library, said Weir.“We get a lot of people who want to join the DAR. We meet them down there so they can find their patriots,” said Weir.Her own patriot ancestor, she said, was Ichabod Eastman, a Minuteman from New England.“My grandfather was alive at the time, and we went to his grave near Weare, New Hampshire,” said Weir.Her grandfather had such a knowledge of family history she said he was able to critique a book on of Eastman genealogy.“He found errors in it and they changed it on his say so,” she said.Weir said the DAR is constantly changing but as ever “we offer a great opportunity to know history and present future plans for the country...”Weir was honored June 9 at the Butler Country Club with a combination anniversary celebration and Flag Day luncheon.Butler Mayor Maggie Stock declared June 9 “Ann Weir Day”U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, gave her a Congressional Certificate of RecognitionPresident Obama sent her a note congratulating her on her achievement, while Butler County Commissioner Bill McCarrier planned to deliver his personally.Weir said she's looking forward to August when her children, including two 1-year-old great-grandchildren, will be visiting.And she plans on continuing to have DAR functions at her home.“I really don't want to leave here, but if I have to I will, because I don't want to be a problem to my children. But when I die, I won't leave Penn Township . I'll be buried in Brownsdale Cemetery. And I already have my obituary written, “ Weir said.
