Francis E. Weaver; Retired Film Industry Worker

Francis Emil Weaver, a retired motion picture industry worker, died at the Venturan Convalescent Care Center on Tuesday. He was 91.

He was born on Sept. 5, 1907, to Harry Sumner Weaver and Aleta Leota Johnson Weaver in Marysville, Ohio. He grew up in Illinois and Indiana, where his mother taught and his father painted signs. In 1911, his father painted numbers on the race car driven by Ray Harroun, who won the first Indianapolis 500.

As a young man, Francis Weaver was a prizefighter. Billed as “Kid Weaver,” he trained with Jack Dempsey.

He also played baseball professionally in the minor leagues before moving to California in 1934, according to friends Mary Lou Rusnik and Andrew Marsh.

In the mid-1930s Weaver began a career in the motion picture industry with Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank. He was a member of Motion Picture Studio Grips Local 80, International Assn. of Theatrical and Stage Employees and Motion Picture Machine Operators.

In 1936, he married Marie. They traveled throughout the United States and abroad after he retired in 1972. One of their favorite road trips was the journey along Old Route 66.

The couple lived in Ventura at the Lemon Wood Mobile Home Park, until Marie Weaver died in 1989.

After his wife’s death, Weaver moved, becoming the first resident at the Victorian in Ventura. He later moved to the Ventura TowneHouse.

Marsh often took Marie’s son, Glenn V. “Jerry” Miller, to see Weaver at the convalescent home. When they saw each other, Marsh said, “You could see the love between them. It was something to behold.”

He is survived by his stepson, who lives in Saticoy.

Memorial services are scheduled at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura. Rev. Melitta L. Haslund, minister of the Universalist Unitarian Church in Santa Paula will officiate.

Arrangements are under the direction of Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura.