Mary Elizabeth Weeks, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully in her sleep on the morning of September 27, 2026 in Ravensdale, Wash. at the age of 94.
Mary was born April 27, 1932 in Madera, Calif. to Harold and Grace Bodenhamer.
Harold owned a small dairy farm near Chowchilla. When Mary was almost four years old, Harold was forced to sell his farm due to depressed milk prices during the Great Depression and moved his family, now including Mary’s brother John, to the San Francisco Bay Area with thirty dollars to his name. He got a job with Standard Oil in Richmond.
Mary attended public schools in Berkeley and El Cerrito, her family living in rented houses until in about 1943 Harold bought a lot in the Berkeley Hills and built his own house beginning with two rooms that the family lived in while building the rest of the house. Mom remembered her Dad digging out the daylight basement by hand while she and her brother moved the rocks and dirt out in buckets after school.
Mary graduated from El Cerrito High School in January 1949, then attended San Jose State College, graduating in 1954 with an elementary school teaching credential. She then taught first grade in San Jose.
In 1955 a fellow teacher, Wanda Weeks, introduced Mary to Wanda’s brother, Ed Weeks, and the two were married in April 1956.
Mary became pregnant with her first child, soon after resigned from her teaching job, and her son Daniel was born March 29, 1957. While pregnant with Daniel (Dan), Mary accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior when invited to watch a Billy Graham crusade on TV at a neighbor’s house. Mary and Ed became faithful followers of Jesus Christ for the rest of their lives.
Daniel was followed by Julia in 1958, Matt in 1960, John in 1963, and Jennifer in 1965. In the spring of 1962, the family moved to Eureka where Dad worked for PG&E. Mom stayed home raising the five kids and diligently taking care of the home, while often in the early years teaching Sunday School at Grace Baptist Church in Eureka, and then participating in Ladies’ Bible Study Fellowship, being an active participant along with Dad in the Gideons, an organization that distributes Bibles to individuals, motels, hospitals, and other facilities such as rest homes. Many waitresses were the recipients of pocket-size New Testaments thanks to Mom.
In 1986 Dad retired, and he and Mom bought property on Greenwood Heights Road, Kneeland, and with their two sons Dan and John built a house. Mom often had grand kids spend the day or night and they still have fond memories of Mom (Grandma) baking cookies for them.
Dad died in November 2002 with Mom staying in the house on Kneeland. In 2010 Mom sold the house and moved to San Luis Obispo, buying a house across the street from her son Matt and his wife Debbi. Mom still took care of her house, drove her car, and did her own shopping until suffering a fall, breaking her hip, contracting pneumonia, and battling low blood pressure in 2017, all of which caused her self-sufficiency to decline rapidly. When Matt retired in 2020 and moved with Debbi to North Carolina, Mom went to live with daughter Jennifer and husband James Pozun in Ravensdale, WA where she stayed until going to be with the Lord.
Mary was preceded in death by husband Ed Weeks, brother John Bodenhamer, and grandson Jasper Allison. Mary is survived by son Dan Weeks (Kim), daughter Julia Weeks, son Matt Weeks (Debbi), son John Weeks, daughter Jennifer (James Pozun), seventeen grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren.
Friday morning, November 20, there will be a graveside service for family only. Following will be a reception at one o’clock at Grace Baptist Church with snacks and drinks available for family and friends who would like to attend.
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