Phoebe Weston
Passed Away
We are all saddened by this news.
With great sadness, I pass this along. I too knew Phoebe for many years
and a long time member of YIC = Yarmouth Ice Club.
On behalf of all the the entire skating community, our deepest sympathies.
When and if more information is available,
I will forward,
Subject: Skater's Angel
Dear YIC Members,
It is with great sadness and the deepest sense of loss that we share this news. Today, one of
the pillars of the Yarmouth Ice Club passed away. Phoebe Weston, wife of Bob Weston,
sister of Carolyn Pierce, mother of Wendy Weston-Enzmann, mother-in-law of Alex Enzmann,
aunt of Pepi Pierce-Colarullo, beloved grandmother, and dear friend to all of us, will forever be
in our hearts. For the past 25 years, Phoebe selflessly gave her time and shared her infinite
knowledge so that YIC and it's skaters were respected and highly regarded in the
world of figure skating.
Carolyn Pierce has asked if the members of the YIC might help the family by coordinating
the reception after the funeral at the Weston home. Please contact Donna Wunder
(Tel# 508/385-1328) if you can lend a helping hand in any way. We will let you know
more details as they become available.
Also, it had always been Phoebe's wish to establish a YIC Skater's Fund. Carolyn
has asked that we honor this and anyone wishing to make donations in
Phoebe's name, please send them to:
"Skater's Fund of Yarmouth Ice Club"
4 Enterprise Road, Suite 287
South Dennis, MA 02660
Cards of sympathy can be sent to:
Carolyn and Dana Pierce
45 Norris Street
Hyannis, MA 02601
Robert Weston
23 South Road
West Yarmouth, MA 02673
Wendy and Alex Enzmann
471 Taylor Road
Stow, MA 01775
With much sorrow, The Yarmouth Ice Club Board of Directors
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ADDED ON 10:03 AM 1/20/2005
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I'd appreciate it if you could distribute this information about the service for Phoebe Weston.
Visiting hours at the Funeral home are 6-9 PM on Friday, 21 January.
The location is Doane, Beal, and Ames.
160 W. Main St., Hyannis MA.
Telephone there is 508.775.0684.
The Memorial service for Phoebe will be at the First Federated Church of Hyannis
at 2 PM on Saturday, 22 January. The church is on Main St, right in the center of Hyannis.
Wendy and I appreciate all of the kinds words we have been getting.
Phoebe was a deeply generous person, always ready to help, always there for support.
I can only hope that Wendy and I can give to our children the kind of love that
Phoebe was able to share with us.
Alexander Enzmann
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Added 1/23/05
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PHOEBE WESTON EULOGY 1/22/2005
Ted Clarke
I’d like to say a few words about Phoebe. She was a friend to my wife, Mary, and me a
nd to many of you, while to others she was a family member, neighbor, a fellow club member
or a colleague. Each of us gets to know another person from a certain perspective – and that’s limited.
There’s always so much more to know.
In whatever way we came to know her I’m sure each of us in his or her own way felt that Phoebe was
someone you could count on, someone who would be there for you if you needed her, someone who
cared what happened to you. That’s one of the things that makes her passing so difficult. It’s one of
the things that will make us miss her.
Mary and I met Phoebe and her family through skating as many of you did. When Bob and Phoebe’s
daughter, Wendy, started to compete, Phoebe became interested in the New England Inter-Club
Council, and that was how we first came to know her. She was always very proud of Wendy
and her skating and judging.
Phoebe later became Secretary of the NEICC and served faithfully and well for a number of years.
Even when her term was completed she was a mainstay of the NEICC and came to most of their
meetings. Phoebe (and Carolyn and Wendy) were among the first to volunteer for Nationals
when it was in Boston, and they worked hard and well the whole week.
But we will probably remember Phoebe best for her involvement in skating here on the Cape.
Phoebe, and her sister Carolyn, have always seemed to be the heart and soul of the
Yarmouth Ice Club. Together they brought major events to the club and each time, those
events played out beautifully. To my knowledge they held the 1979 and 2004 New Englands
and the 1983 Easterns, during which Phoebe was a tireless worker.
In 1982, Yarmouth Ice Club was host to delegates from all over the country at a very intense
but well run Governing Council Meeting, and Tracings Magazine had a comment which I’ll paraphrase:
“Yarmouth Ice Club … did an excellent job, with hard-working registrar Phoebe Weston
receiving compliments from many of the delegates.”
“Hard-working” and “helpful” are words that describe Phoebe well to the rest of the
skating community. She was always the first person you saw when you came into the rink for the
Cranberry Open, and she spent her time making sure people had what they needed to have and
knew what they needed to know. She was there from early in the morning until late at
night working to make the competitions a success – which they always were.
Cranberry is probably the event most associated with Phoebe and with the club. It began 25 years
ago next month at the Cape Cod Coliseum and was called the “Yarmouth Open”.
When the Coliseum closed, the competition was moved in 1986 to the Gallo Ice Arena in Bourne,
where the competition was held in the summer. More recently it has been held at Tony Kent Arena
in South Dennis. The hallmark of Cranberry is that every year is better than the last. And it doesn’t
just happen by accident, Phoebe and Carolyn work at it, think about it and with the help of the
whole Club, carry it off. It’s sadly ironic that the 25th anniversary event will be held without her.
But I have a feeling she’ll show up anyway.
Along with the competition, there were always social events – cookouts and parties, many of them
held at the Weston home. It was always good to spend time with Phoebe and Bob Weston.
They were great hosts. Bob supported whatever she wanted to do. They also opened their home
to skaters who came to the Cape during the summer to skate with the club.
Probably the most memorable among the recent gatherings was the 80th birthday party
for three former USFSA Presidents: Oscar Iobst, George Yonekura and Ben Wright. That was
held on a perfect summer day that epitomized the Cape. Many people who were there
said it was unforgettable.
And Phoebe was a true Cape-Codder. Her father’s ancestors came to America on the Mayflower
and were part of the settlement at Provincetown on the outer Cape. She loved the Cape and her family
had lived here for many years. At the competitions there were always mementoes for the skaters
and judges that represented the best of Cape Cod.
But as much as she loved her home and the Cape, Phoebe could be counted on to be somewhere else
when she was needed there. Phoebe spent a lot of time babysitting with Wendy and Alex’s children
Robert, Duncan and Johanna while Wendy and Alex were away judging.
Her son David and Colleen and their children Julia and Grace knew she was there for them. All you
had to do was watch Phoebe with her grandchildren and you knew -- She loved them dearly
and they loved her.
We’re each given a certain amount of time in this life. We don’t know how long it will be, and
sometimes we wonder what our role is supposed to be. I don’t think Phoebe Weston puzzled much
about that at all. I think Phoebe knew what her purpose was and she dedicated her whole life
to getting better at it.
For Bob, for Wendy and David, for her grandchildren, she was loyal; she was there when you needed her,
you knew that you were loved. That’s a great legacy for her to leave.
For her friends and club members she was interested and devoted. Phoebe spent her skills,
her energy, her emotion doing the things she was meant to do, and she did those things well.
By any measure, Phoebe Weston was a success. Just ask those who knew her and
those who loved her. They’re the same people. Those who knew her did and do love her.