JOHN H. WEITZ ’38

JOHN H. WEITZ, 97, a geologist and the former president and co-owner of the Independent Explosive Company, died Oct. 28, 2013. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received a master’s degree from Lehigh University and a PhD from Pennsylvania State University. Intending to become an actuary, he became interested in geology after being inspired by Wesleyan geology professor Joe Webb Peoples. After graduate work, he joined the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Mines, mapping strategic metal ore deposits needed for the war effort during World War II. He then joined the Lehigh University geology faculty for five years and then moved back to Ohio, where he became the geologist and later vice president at the family business, Independent Explosive Company. Later, he became president and co-owner. An avid reader and a community volunteer, he used his geology knowledge to help his community. His wife, Anne Moore Weitz survives, as do three children, seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and his brother, Joseph J. Weitz ’44. One granddaughter predeceased him.