Bobbye Weaver

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Bobbye Jo Williamson Weaver (born March 12, 1931 in Cropwell; died September 29, 2022) was an actor, singer, playwright, television producer, drummer and music educator.

Weaver began singing and playing piano as a child. She attended the Birmingham Conservatory of Music and graduated as valedictorian of Pell City High School. That summer she and three friends led services statewide as part of Billy Graham's "Youth for Christ" program. She enrolled at the University of Alabama and was married in June 1950 to Emmett Weaver, then editor of the Pell City News-Aegis.

Emmett served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War and was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. She accompanied him there and worked as a fashion model for local stores and as a feature writer for The Globe, the camp's weekly newspaper. When he was stationed to the Naval Hospital St Albans in New York, the young couple took advantage of the posting to regularly attend Broadway shows.

After the war, the Waeavers moved to Birmingham. Bobbye completed her bachelor's degree at Birmingham-Southern College in 1956. Afterward she joined the Town & Gown Theater. She was a natural fit for the Summerfest theater series created in 1979 by Town & Gown director James Hatcher, Mayor David Vann, and her husband, who was by then the long-time entertainment editor for the Birmingham Post-Herald. Weaver also performed with Birmingham-Southern's College Theatre, the Jewish Community Center Players and the Birmingham Dinner Theatre, and sang with the Birmingham Civic Chorus and Birmingham Civic Opera.

After responding to a suggestion by bandleader Lawrence Welk, she took up drums and performed with his band locally, and also with Dickie Bell's group at the Downtown Club. She and Dot Brewer also performed as a duo with regular bookings at Parliament House and The Club.

In 1961 Weaver created and produced the Alabama Public Television program "I Hear Music", which featured performances by local high school students nominated by their music teachers. Weaver taught music at Temple Emanu-El. She also worked with numerous beauty pageant contestants and sponsors as a chaperone, costume designer, and publicity director. As a member of the women's committee for the Birmingham Ballet she helped organized the annual Poinsettia Ball.

Weaver died in September 2022. She is buried at Valley Hill Cemetery in Pell City.

References

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