Tommy Weaver was playing in his Springfield, Mass., neighborhood when he realized a little girl had fallen through the ice of a pond. On his own, the red-headed boy pulled the 2-year-old to safety and was hailed in the local paper as a hero. He was not yet 5 years old.
For the rest of his life, Weaver lived at full throttle. "In 75 years, he lived 100," said his brother, Bob Weaver of Raleigh. "He was active - on the go all the time. He was a real man's man. He never looked his age, and he never met a stranger."
Tommy Weaver died last month, leaving behind a platoon of friends and family who marveled at his zest for adventure and his positive spirit. "He always said, 'If you want to do something, just do it,'" said his sister, Martha Powell of Cary.
Weaver's greatest passion in life surfaced early on. The boy who once built a dam out of railroad ties, backing up a creek more than four miles and washing out a road, was at home on the water. And a speed boat the size of a go-cart proved a natural fit.
He launched his racing career on Virginia's James River in 1951 with his first boat, a runabout called "Freckles." He drove with such abandon that he said he was pitched out of his boat the first dozen times he raced. "I realized you couldn't win upside down," he once told a reporter. For the next 39 years, he was a force to be reckoned with on the racing circuit.
Weaver began racing a modified hydroplane called "Playtime" in 1961, and with it won more than 100 races. Competitors complained that when Weaver showed up, they were running for second place.
His love of power boats rubbed off on his younger brother. Bob Weaver was 9 years old when his father died, and there to take up the slack was big brother Tommy. "Tommy took me to hunt, fish and to boat races." As adults, the pair raced a small hydroplane boat. "Once he stopped actively driving, he and I raced together," Bob Weaver said. "He was my crew chief. We broke a couple world records in the inboard hydroplane class. We won a national championship. We would either win or something would break. We didn't lose because we were slow."
The regatta is born
In 1968, Weaver teamed with the Optimist Club of Raleigh to launch the Tar Heel Regatta, held on Lake Wheeler. "Tommy wanted to bring powerboat racing to Raleigh," said Steve Stroud, an Optimist member and longtime friend. "He wanted to have a championship qualifying course."
The regatta became one of the most widely acclaimed powerboat races in the country during its more than 30-year run, routinely attracting boats from across the United States and Canada. In its best years, it would have as many as 130 boats in 12 classes.
When the regatta started, no prize money was available. Instead, Weaver brought in a truck from the Farmers Market and gave out vegetables to the winners.
"It was one of our biggest fundraisers for quite a few years," said Keith Bandy, a longtime Optimist Club member. "Tommy was one of the nicest and hardest-working people I have ever known. He knew how to bring people together to accomplish projects."
The regatta ended its run in 2003, a victim of rising costs and a declining economy.
On to scuba
Stroud likes to take credit for another of Weaver's pastimes - scuba diving. "I had a very expensive, high performance boat that I crashed and sank in deep water," he said. It was the late 1960s, and Stroud had no way of finding the boat in the murky waters of Kerr Lake. He had all but given up on pulling it out.
Weaver was having none of that. "Tommy said, 'I'm going to go learn how to dive,'" Stroud said. "He went to the Y and took diving lessons and got some gear. Then we devised an elaborate plan to get this boat up." On their own, the pair managed to locate and free the boat from its watery grave.
"Tommy knew how to do things," Stroud said. "He was phenomenal in that respect. ... He had an uncanny eye for making things perform better. When we went to races, everybody wanted to ask him a question, have him look at their boat.
"It was fascinating to be with him and see the admiration of people. In any circle, regardless of status, he walked on equal footing."
Weaver went on to become an avid scuba diver, eventually joining treasure hunters off the North Carolina coast in the search for Blackbeard's artifacts.
"He was always into adventure," Bob Weaver said. He recalled one year when the brothers were in Hampton, Va., for a race. "We took a potato cannon with us and fired potatoes over Fort Monroe. The MPs came looking for who fired shots. Tommy said we were the only people to have successfully fired on that fort since the Civil War."
His stepdaughter, Denise Parker, says Weaver could do anything.
"When we outgrew our house in Raleigh," she recalled, "Tommy had us build the addition together. It was our family project."
Weaver was employed by Pritchard Paint and Glass in Raleigh for 23 years. He left Pritchard to start his own business, Weaver Glass and Storefront, with his wife, Lou. The couple retired to Gloucester, near Harkers Island, 10 years ago.
Beyond reproach
Weaver and his twin, Billy, were the oldest of six children. "I was just the pesky little sister," Martha Powell said. "He 'let' me shine his trophies. I thought that was so wonderful."
Powell said the siblings became better friends as they got older. "As an adult, I was the caregiver for our mother. Tommy was a godsend. I was surprised that he was such a support system. There's a big hole in our family now."
Friend Robert Irwin, an artist and author, said, "Tommy's life was a real success because he did the right thing. His sense of moral responsibility was beyond reproach."
Weaver's death came just as his brother was returning to the racing circuit. "I've started getting back into it," Bob Weaver said. "It sounds hokey, but I'm laminating some of his ashes onto my boat. In a way, he'll still be racing with me."
Tommy Weaver is survived by his wife of 36 years, Lou; daughter, Susan Weaver Prince and husband, Andy, of Garner; son, Glen Weaver of Raleigh; stepdaughter, Denise Perry Parker, and husband, Neal, of Raleigh; two sisters; three brothers; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
