8/14/1943 – 8/18/2025
Lawrence
Elizabeth Stout Weaver (Betsy) died peacefully at Bridge Haven Memory Care Home on August 18, 2025. She was born on August 14, 1943, in Flint, Michigan, the daughter of John Samuel and Dorothy Backert Stout. She graduated from Northwestern High School in Kokomo, IN, in 1961 as class valedictorian, and from the College of Wooster, in Wooster, OH, in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in music education. She married Robert Franklin Weaver (Rob) in 1965 in Flint, MI. She taught music in elementary and junior high schools in Durham, NC from 1965 to 1968. She had a lovely soprano voice and was a paid soloist in several churches in Durham. She played the ingenue role (Phyllis) in a production of “Iolanthe” by the Savoyards, a Gilbert and Sullivan group, in 1967 in Durham. In 1968 she gave birth to a daughter, Virginia (Ginny) Robin.
In 1969, Betsy and Rob moved to San Francisco, California. There, she taught music to elementary age children at the Hebrew Academy. In 1971, she gave birth to a daughter, Stephanie Elizabeth.
In 1971, Betsy and Rob moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where they lived for the rest of her life. In the mid 1970’s, Betsy studied voice performance at the University of Kansas. In 1982, she joined the docent program at the Spencer Museum of Art at KU, and in 1984 became the director of the program. She served in that capacity until her retirement in 1999, and continued to serve as a docent until 2016. After retirement, she volunteered in her granddaughter Camilla’s kindergarten and first grade classrooms at Cordley Elementary School.
Betsy was known for her bubbly personality, love of music, art, good food, travel, and, above all, family. She was also an excellent cook, and kept the family stocked with homemade French bread made from Julia Child’s recipe. She was a loving mother, wife, daughter, and friend, and many people loved her and will miss her.
Survivors include her husband Rob, of the home; daughters (Ginny [Dan White], Lawrence, KS, and Stephanie [Chad Kemper], Lawrence, KS); granddaughters Camilla and Nora Lynch; two brothers (J. Stephen Stout [Jayna] of Flushing, MI, and David Stout [Eileen] of Clinton, NJ).
A celebration of Betsy’s life is pending. The family suggests memorial gifts to the Alzheimer’s Association. Online condolences may be sent to www.warrenmcelwain.com.
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