Dr. Robert J. Weber

Dr. Robert Weber CORTLAND, N. Y. #45;- Dr. Robert J. Weber, 77, of 41 Pearl St., Cortland, died Oct. 14, 2000, at the University Hospital in Syracuse. Services were held at the United Presbyterian Church of Cortland. The Rev. James Hicks officiated. Interment was at Cortland Rural Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Parkinson's Disease Association, 250 Hylan Blvd.. Suite 4B, Staten Island, N.Y. 10305. Dr. Weber was born July 6, 1923, in Muscatine, the son of Louis and Enola Weber. To the thousands of physical education majors who have passed through the Cortland College Hall during the past three decades, he has been an influential figure. From his arrival on campus in 1952 to his retirement in 1985, he taught, coached and guided a generation of Cortland graduates as a professor, coach, athletic director and department chairman, and in retirement, he returned to campus to assist with football game supervision. He was a member of the C-Club Executive Committee since its inception in 1969 and has doubled as master of ceremonies at almost every C-Club Hall of Fame banquet. Weber matriculated to the University of Iowa in 1941. He interrupted h...[more]

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collegiate education with a three-year stint in the U.S. Army, where he attained the rank of 1st Lt. while serving as 7th Army Regimental Athletic Director. Back at the University of Iowa, he started as center and linebacker for the Hawkeye football squad. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1947, his master's degree in 1950, and his doctoral degree in 1952, all from the University of Iowa. From 1947 to 1952, he taught and coached at Washington High and University High in Iowa City. He arrived in the autumn of 1952, at Cortland. Over the next 33 years, he served in a variety of capacities. He coached the Red Dragon football linemen for 13 seasons. He was director of athletics for 12 years and chairman of the Men's Physical Education Department for 15 years, two more years as chair of both the men's and women's departments. Weber has served on numerous college-wide committees whose scope has encompassed the full range of campus activities. He was an active member of the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (AAHPER). He served on numerous national committees and chaired its Division of Men's Athletics. A past president of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, he received the organization's service award in 1974. President of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) on two different occasions, he received the league's first Distinguished Service Award. In the community, he participated on the Cortland Chamber of Commerce board of directors, was a Cub Master for Scout Pack 94, president of the Campus School P.T.A., a deacon and elder for the First Presbyterian Church, board member of the American Cancer Society, and a member of the YMCA Boy's Work Committee. He was a school board consultant in the planning of physical education facilities in the Whitney Point, Vernon-Verona-Sherill, and Delmar School Districts. Survivors include his wife, Frances Yacavone Weber of Cortland; two sons, Robert L. Weber of Elizabethtown and John C. Weber of Lake Placid, N. Y.; grandchildren, April, Krista, Shelley, Brianne, Jason, Kelly, and Katrina; a sister, Dorothy Toborg and her husband, Robert, of Muscatine; five stepchildren; 12 step grandchildren; several nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary Weber in 1987.