ORONO – Minnie Moore Weiss, 91, died Dec. 4, 2010, at her home with the support of family, friends and dedicated caregivers, after a brief illness. She was born Jan. 11, 1919, in Atlantic City, N.J., to Charles Sumner Moore and Lona Tillman Moore. She will be remembered for her warm heart, enchanting smile and her active Quaker faith, which informed her commitment to social justice throughout her life. Minnie graduated from The George School in 1936, and matriculated to Swarthmore College, where she majored in history, graduating in 1940. She then moved to New York City to attend Columbia University School of Social Work, completing a master’s degree in 1942. Upon graduation, she began a career as a social worker, a vocation that she continued to practice throughout the rest of her professional life. She started working in the Foster Home program for NY Children’s Aid Society. During this period of her life she met and then married, in 1945, her husband, Robert J. Weiss, M.D. While they came from different social backgrounds, Minnie and Bob became partners in all aspects of their lives, with a shared commitment to social psychiatry, progressive politics and making a difference in the world. In 1960, Minnie and Bob moved to Hanover, N.H., to take jobs in the mental health field; both held appointments in the department of psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School and Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, Hanover, N.H. Three years later, Minnie founded Claremont (N.H.) Mental Health Center, while continuing to be a member of the department of psychiatry staff. While holding down these jobs, she raised three children, managed an active family and frequently read aloud to her family from a vast library of children’s literature. She remained an avid reader and intellectual throughout her life. When her husband moved the family to Boston in 1969, Minnie continued to work as the director of the YWCA Counseling Service from 1971 to 1976. When she retired she had completed more than 25 years in social work, primarily in the mental health psychiatric field. After retirement, Minnie and Bob lived in New York City; Princeton, N.J.; and Wellesley, Mass. They traveled extensively and continued to be active, visiting friends and family. They would frequently summer on Little Deer Isle, where they had bought land in 1957, and where they had a summer home. Minnie and Bob moved to Orono in 1996, where they participated in the lives of their grandchildren and enjoyed every aspect of the community, from middle school basketball games to the birds outside their window. Minnie appreciated each day and what it had to bring, and was always gracious. She also had a good sense of humor, something that was always useful when raising children. Minnie was predeceased by her beloved husband of 63 years who, she said, made her life endlessly interesting; and her brother, Benjamin Moore. She is survived by her son, Scott Tillman Weiss, M.D., and his wife, Deborah Jackson Weiss, of Chestnut Hill, Mass., and their children, Benjamin and Matthew; her son, J. Woodrow Weiss, M.D., and his wife, Kay Petersen, M.D., of Dover, Mass., and their children, Alec and Hannah; her daughter, Elizabeth Thompson Weiss, M.D., and her husband, David Clement, M.D., of Orono, and their children, Rachel and Timothy; her sister-in-law, Margot Moore of Belfast; and her niece, Madeline Holtham of Kingfield. We are grateful for the excellent care of Cindy Milles, FNP; A Loving Touch; Ellie Sibley; and New Hope Hospice and their entire staff. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to New Hope Hospice, Inc., P.O. Box 757, Holden, ME 04429-0757.
MINNIE MOORE WEISS
