Molimau of Uncle Joe as delivered by Joe Weilenman:
I remember Joe’s smile and the twinkle in his eye.
I have lived in American Samoa for 38 years and knew Uncle Joe most of that time. I never heard him say anything bad about anyone.
Uncle Joe believed in the Rotary Club motto “service before self” and always helped with:
- Christmas tree sales
- Golf tournaments
- delivering Dictionaries to all 3rd graders each year
- Playground maintenance
- the Four Way Test presentations to senior students
- and more.
He helped with many projects at Nazareth House and was Sister Sheila’s go to person for small projects.
In addition to Rotary, Uncle Joe helped with the Lion Club’s eyesight promotion and testing programs and Shriners Children’s Hospital donations.
New Rotary members may know Uncle Joe as a person who sat at meetings quietly (most of the time), but the older members remember Joe as a man of action.
Peter Crispin, who knew Joe longer and maybe better than most of us, said Joe was a very generous and caring person. He was a member of Rotary, Lions and Shriners and was always there to lend a hand.
Also, we remember his good voice singing “Crazy” almost as well as Patsy Cline.
He had a memory that could recall in great detail events from early childhood such as swimming across a clear blue Pago Harbor and where various military facilities were located during WWII.
As he aged, his flash memory would occasionally cause him to interrupt the meeting to explain calculations for what block and tackle would be needed to lift 30,000 pounds with a 1/2″ wire cable. We listened and then went on with the meeting which was an indication of the respect the group had for him.
He had a good sense of humor which is necessary in Rotary since we all make jokes about each other and give fines for trivial things and when the fining slowed down, Joe would fine himself.
He was a good friend to many and had a life well lived. He will be missed as he has done so much for so many.
And at the end of each prayer in Rotary, we heard his loud “Amen!”
