Thelma Phipps Weaver leaves $315,000 to UVa-Wise for scholarships

Thelma Phipps Weaver never had the opportunity to attend college but through her generosity Southwest Virginia students will have financial support toward their studies at The University of Virginia's College at Wise.

Weaver's $315,000 bequest to UVa-Wise will be used to establish the Thelma Phipps Weaver and D.C. Phipps Scholarship Fund. Preference will be given to students from Southwest Virginia.

A Wise County native, Weaver was born in the Banner section of Coeburn in 1914, the eldest of five daughters. “She was a bright, perceptive, hard-working, ambitious, attractive, caring and loving person who sacrificed life's finer amenities so she could leave money for a scholarship fund for deserving students who might not otherwise have means to attend college,” said Ron Redman, Weaver's nephew and the executor of her estate.

 In the 1940s, Weaver became involved with the local Republican Party. She went on to be elected president of Virginia's Republican women's group during the Eisenhower Administration. She served on the Governor's Council on the Status of Women before the Equal Rights movement began and was included in “Who's Who in American Women” in recognition of her many accomplishments.

After the death of her husband, David Carl Phipps, in 1971, Weaver moved from Norton to Knoxville, Tenn., where she later married B. Glen Weaver.   She remained in Knoxville until her death July 24, 2004, at the age of 90.

UVa-Wise Chancellor Emeritus Joseph C. Smiddy said Weaver was a devoted friend of the College for decades. “I visited her after she moved to Knoxville and she told me Wise County was her home and that she loved the area so much she wanted to leave what she and her husband had to help young people here.”

Redman, who attended the College in the 1960s before going to pharmacy school, said his aunt was an accomplished artist, an avid gardener and former president of the Norton Garden Club, and an accomplished bridge player.   “She appreciated the value of education and wanted to see the College do well,” he said.

“She was really a remarkable woman,” Redman said. “I was very proud of her.”

The only branch of the University of Virginia, UVa-Wise is ranked among the nation's top public liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report .   UVa-Wise is home to 1,900 students and offers undergraduate and professional programs in the liberal arts tradition of Thomas Jefferson.