GILFORD, NH – HARPSWELL, ME --- Sheila Weeks, 85, passed away at home on Thursday, September 15, 2022.
Sheila was born on January 10, 1937, in Laconia, the daughter of Edward and Velma (Lougee) Dupont.
She spent her life as a devoted wife and mother, always finding a way to balance family life, all the while dedicating herself to endless organizations as a leader and volunteer.
She always had a love of travel, whether it be family vacations when her children were young, or where her speaking engagements took her. Later in her life she would take her grandchildren on epic tours across the globe.
It was while she was a student at Laconia High School that she realized her leadership abilities. In her junior year, she was a delegate to NH Girls State, where she was elected Governor, and a delegate to Girls Nation in Washington, D.C. She was vice-president of the Class of 1955 organizing several reunions. She was editor of the school newspaper the Laconian and President of the NH chapter of Future Homemakers of America.
Following graduation, she married Robert (Bob) Weeks, of the LHS Class of 1952. They built a family home on Sleeper Hill Road in Gilford, where they raised their 5 children. She and her husband were active members of the Gilford Community.
As a young mother she was a Girl Scout leader for 15 years and President of the Laconia Girl Scout Leaders Council. She was also a member and president of the Lakeport Women’s Club and served as Plymouth District Director of the New Hampshire Federation of Women’s Clubs.
She was one of the founders of Lakes Region Charitable Foundation and for many years served as a Board Member of the Lakes Region Scholarship Foundation. She was a 50-year member of the Mary Butler Chapter of the DAR, and a member of the Mount Washington chapter of New England Women. She was a past Board Member of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.
She was a member of the Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre. She once co-chaired the NH Catholic Bishop’s Fund and also chaired the Lakes Region Committee for the NH Catholic Bishop’s summer garden party fundraiser.
She began her long affiliation with the Lakes Region Hospital, as President of the Auxiliary. She became a member of the hospital’s Board of Trustees in 1978 and was elected Chairman of the Board, the first woman to hold that position in the history of the hospital. She was also a Trustee of the NH Hospital Association and became a member of the American Hospital Association’s General Council, and chaired the AHA Committee on Volunteers. In that capacity, she traveled to 33 of the 50 states, conducting workshops and speaking on volunteerism and trusteeship. She would later be invited and spoke at both Yale and Harvard. Following her husband’s death in 1988, she accepted the position of Director of Community Affairs and Development at the hospital.
Among her many honors was the Laconia Business and Professional Women’s Clubs selection as Woman of the Year in 1977, and the Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce Irwin Award for community service.
After her husband Bob passed away in 1988, she found solace at her seaside homes. She spent many winters at her home on Sanibel Island building lifelong memories with her grandchildren. After retiring in 2000, she moved to her home in Harpswell, Maine for 20 years before returning to New Hampshire to be near her daughters. Her most peaceful days were spent watching the activity on the water and beaches.
She is survived by her children, Wendy Weeks and her husband Ruban Andrus, Holly Burrows and her husband Bill Burrows, Marcy Weeks, Robert Bruce Weeks Jr. and his wife Lynda, and Stacy Weeks Schoell, her seven grandchildren, Samantha B. Miner, Austin Burrows, Stephanie Weeks Pepin, Abigail Weeks Estes, Connor Burrows, Hillary Burrows, and Mackenzie Schoell, several great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, October 8, 2022, at 10:00am, at St. Andre Bessette Parish at Sacred Heart Church, 291 Union Avenue, Laconia, NH, 03246.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests -Weeks Woods, 54 Portsmouth St, Concord, NH, 03301, or Lakes Region VNA Hospice, 186 Waukewan St #6023, Meredith, NH, 03253.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services and 603Cremations.com, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, NH, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit www.wilkinsonbeane.com.