Reverend Dr. Donald Arthur Weems

Reverend Dr. Donald A. Weems, passed away peaceably, after a lengthy illness, on November 13, 2016, in St. Louis, MO, where he had lived for over 50 years. He was 84. He was surrounded by his daughter and her family, who had cared for him for many years.

Don grew up in Atlanta, GA, the son of Clarence Weems and Florence Wimberly Weems. He was always playing 20 Questions with the family, where invariably the answer was Georgia or Atlanta, as he loved his home state.

Don is survived by his sister Louise Smart, and sister-in-laws Jane Barr Stump, Judy Barr, and Wanda Barr; his children, Stuart Weems and daughter-in-law Catherine Oliver-Weems, David Weems, and Heather Weems-Elliott and son-in-law Marcus Elliott; his grandchildren Millie Phillips and her husband Chris Phillips, Barrett Weems and his wife Michelle Weems, Christopher Simmons, Alexandria Ann and Sofia Marie Elliott, and Douglas Weems; his great-grandchildren Cristian Ferrari, Barrett Weems, Jr., Mackenzie Phillips, and Marissa Ann Weems. He loved every one of us dearly.

Don is predeceased by his wife of nearly 60 years, Ann Barr Weems, and his beloved son Todd C. Weems.

Don attended Peabody College, in Nashville, TN at an early age, then Vanderbilt University, followed by McCormick Seminary in Chicago, with his doctorate coming from Harvard University. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1957. He deplored prejudice, racism, and bigotry, and strove to include all peoples in his life and faith, which led Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to ask him to serve his ministry in the south. His faith, however, would lead him to several churches in Illinois, and St. Louis, where he took the call as head pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church, serving there for over 35 years. During that time, he also served the national church, as Chair and Vice-Chair on several committees, as well as serving as Moderator of the Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery, for two years, during the church reunion of the 1980s.

His life at Trinity was his heart and soul, and a celebration of God’s world: the diverse and wonderful congregation; family services; midnight Christmas processions; mission trips; choral music and jazz bands; rainbows and banners - the celebration of all of God’s gifts.

Christmas was the ultimate time of keeping God’s faith, with gifts for friends and family, gathered from his many travels.

Memorial services will be 1 PM, Saturday, November 19, at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 6800 Washington Avenue, University City. The graveside service will follow immediately at Oak Grove Cemetery, on St. Charles Rock Road in St. Louis.

In lieu of flowers, please give all gifts of remembrance for Donald A. Weems, to the Weems-Scholin Scholarship Fund at Trinity Presbyterian Church.

Don’s wife, Ann, in dedicating her first book, to him, wrote: To Don, who leaves rainbows in his path.

Arrangements under the direction of Gerber Chapel, Webster Groves, Missouri.