Just ahead of his appearance on Mon. Dec. 2nd in Smithtown, Dr. Jack Weber told The South Shore Press the key to good, long living is one-fold: golfing.
Beyond this sly quip from quite the spy guy with a centennial celebration under his belt, Jack presented the cliff notes of his COVID pandemic-penned memoir, aptly entitled “Jack Weber, Here!” He did so in conversation with his daughter, Nancy, before the Great Hollow Middle School class she teaches.
According to Amazon's teaser: “Jack Weber, Here! is an incredibly moving memoir about love, loss, and the power of resilience, written with insight and humor by a member of the Greatest Generation.”
The teens on hand were mesmerized to earn a telling glimpse of the truly great life lived by the man who sat, and occasionally stood before them; his presence, in many ways, signified an American History lesson.
Weber survived the Great Depression and witnessed the building of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge in the 1930s, all while dealing with the rise of antisemitism overseas rearing its ugly head domestically.
An avid local sports fan and recreational competitor once upon a time, Weber triumphantly played college baseball despite not making the varsity squad as a high schooler. He also recalls a New York Giants game he was listening to over the radio being suddenly interrupted by the Dec. 7th, 1941 report of the Pearl Harbor attack.
Weber served in the Navy for eight years afterward, including during World War II. He later earned his medical degree to practice dentistry in 1952, an occupation he held for a large portion of the remainder of his impressively long professional—and overall life; one rife with children, grandchildren, and even more great-children, the twelfth of which, who was named "Jack" in his honor, was born the day after the elder family patriarch celebrated his 100th birthday in May.
Sitting atop the movie-like moments of his one-of-a-kind life: Weber met his wife, Betty Keyerleber, when they were dissecting frogs at Oberlin College, where he was military stationed at the time.
She approached the young sailor on the come-up to be her lab partner, and the rest was history.
“Whenever we have the opportunity to have someone from the greatest generation in our building to talk to our students, we seize that opportunity,” said Great Hollow Middle School Principal, John Scomillio.
After the presentation, Weber lauded a most fascinating additional fact about how he has spent his later years.
In 2023, Weber accepted the presidency of a seen-better-days Riverhead Lions Club—the greater service organization, Lions Club International (LCI), for which he has traveled the US as a keynote speaker, and even got to throw out the first pitch at Shea Stadium on behalf of.
What had fallen to a 6-man operation, grew into a 19-deep roster under his expansive watch.
Per these efforts, Weber encouraged the kids to keep a “never give up attitude” in all areas of their lives.
The students were next encouraged to purchase Weber’s hard-cover memoir for just $40 Amazon, and to keep a lookout for the Netflix-hopeful documentary Weber’s nephew is currently cutting together about Jack's life, including scenes from his return to the old neighborhood last year.
Weber rose to thank “the most incredible group of people” for hosting him, and wished the kids looking on “the best in everything they do” before pausing for his well-due applause.
Though the claps came reigning in, the fun-having showman within Great Hollow’s esteemed guest of honor appeared visibly unsatisfied. He quickly broke out some unexpectedly rhythmic dance moves, which successfully replenished the room with a renewal of energy.
Such was much needed at the end of a longer-than-usual Monday that marked the district’s return from the Thanksgiving holiday.
Shouted one student elatedly as Weber grooved with the moves of someone who wears a much younger man's shoes: “Jack Weber’s got buzz, bruh!”
Here’s to the Greatest Generation, and to a most creative current one for paying it forward with complimentary slanguage everyone strives to receive one day; for this means you have made it much further than anyone ever reckoned you would.
And, especially in Weber's case, did so in absolute style.