Nellie Weger was born in 1912. In 2012 she was 100 years old, and in 2017 when she died on July 13, Nellie was 105. She lived through two world wars, the women’s rights movement in the early 20th century and the women’s liberation of the 1960s and 1970s, the desegregation of the South, the turning of a century, the birth of television, and the arrival of cellular phones and internet. So much can change in a century, and someone can stay true to their past.
On Sept. 22, 1934, Nellie married Delbert Howard Weger. The two remained together until June 1982 when Delbert died. Nellie never remarried in her remaining 35 years. She was described by friends and family as a virtuous woman. In Proverbs 31:10-31, the virtuous woman is described as planting a vineyard with her own hands and sewing tapestries and clothing. Weger grew up a farmer and continued to work in the dirt into her later years, even continuing to mow her lawn until the age of 103.
Weger was also a strong seamstress and sewed into her 90s. She liked to sew and wear red clothing. She always dressed crisply but practical with minimal jewelry according to family.
Weger’s daughter, Virginia Brown said, “She would always cook hot meals with garden vegetables or whatever we canned.” Brown described her mother as keeping the crafts and knowledge of the past alive. Those skills and methods remain valuable to this day in affording one independence and securing one’s family when times are thin.
Brown recalled during the second World War how everything was rationed, and refrigerators could not be found. Brown said, “We had a fridge before they put up the lines.” Brown’s father, Delbert had purchased a refrigerator ahead of the power lines being erected, which many had thought laughable, but then the war began and the Weger family found themselves in rare company in Scott County with chilled drinks or Nellie’s ice cream.
Brown said that Weger loved to travel, having traveled to most of the lower 48 states and all of the coastal states. “She covered the East and West coasts,” Brown said.
Weger’s oldest granddaughter, Lawanda Gardner said, “We used to joke that she kept a suitcase packed, and if anyone said they were going on a trip, she was ready to go—she would invite herself.”
“She had the most fun when traveling—she was the life of the party,” Gardner said.
Granddaughter, Tammy Weger Mooneyham said, “Most would say the sad part about getting old is you’re still young inside. Her enthusiasm for life always showed through, particularly her junior high girl-like laugh.”
Nellie Weger’s family moved to Scott County during the post-Civil War period. Weger attended school in a one-room building until the 10th grade.
Weger had an insatiable appetite for reading and continued to read several books a week until she was 104 when her eyesight began to fail her.
Weger was a member of the Quilting Club, American Legion, and Homemaker’s Club. Weger previously volunteered for the Young at Heart group (a senior group which travels) and for the Scott County Crisis Center. She attended Liberty Baptist Church where she was the pianist until 1946.
