Man with a Vision - Austin I. Weber

Chemist, theorist, inventor, visionary, carpenter, educator, restaurateur and gardener, Austin Irving Weber (Sept 12 1920 – Jan 28 2014), had a knack for bringing the extraordinary to reality.

As a child, Austin was always getting into trouble – creating explosive experiments in the bathroom, bringing stray dogs home with him and pestering his five sisters and younger brother.  Life was never dull.  Then a chain of events – army service during WWII, chemistry studies at the University of Illinois (Champagne-Urbana), the opening of the successful A&S Deli in Springfield, MA that he ran with his brother-in-law for a few years, and down to Wilmington, Delaware to practice chemistry. 

 In Delaware, the chemistry he found was not just in the lab.  He met Norma and she captured his heart.  It was a love story that was to last 59 years, bring two children (Karen and Harold), one son-in-law (Edwin Salamanca) one daughter-in-law (Marcie Weber), and five grandchildren (Zev, triplets Alicia, Jacob and Franchesca Salamanca, and Lily Weber). 

Austin eventually moved back to Massachusetts with his young bride where they made their home.  He spent many years gluing things together with special adhesives he developed.  So often we take glue for granted!  In fact, without glue we would not have been able to launch our rockets to the moon.  Austin, in his laboratory, brewed up a special adhesive that could withstand the enormous heat of a rocket launch to keep the insulating tiles bonded to the walls of the launching silo at Cape Canaveral.  His glue also enabled the first artificial turf in the country to be adhered at the Orange Bowl.  Believe it or not, Austin Weber’s epoxy resin E-12 remains in worldwide use today. 

Austin never retired, he just shifted gears.  Now it was time to espouse a new theory of how the universe came into existence – this countered the Big Bang Theory and proposed a viable Cataclysmic Collision alternative (www.weberscosmos.com).  He also was convinced that if you write to enough newspaper editors about things that need to be fixed with recommendations about how to fix them, you will be able to right the wrongs of global warming and poverty.  Since he realized that the polymer industry he was part of was one of the culprits that created the planet’s climate predicament, he became more determined than ever.   He researched all the newspapers and corporations across the globe that he felt could help in the sustainable transformation.  Armed with his writings, he headed off to Staples to make thousands of copies and then to the post office to mail them to their destinations.  Unfortunately, his writings were not taken seriously, were rarely published, and his thoughts remained sealed in their envelopes.  The website became a new way to inform the public, but again, did not get the exposure it needed.

Austin suffered a stroke in July 2007 which paralyzed him on his left side.  He took up residence at the Hebrew Senior Life and became a mentor to many young certified nurses' aides (CNAs). He took it upon himself to educate  everyone in his midst from nurses to doctors to social workers to fellow residents.   Austin wanted people to understand his vision - how the universe had formed, how precious life is and what we must do to protect our planet.   He wanted people to plant trees and green roofs everywhere and as soon as possible.  He wanted energy to come from clean sources such as the ocean's tides and waves.  He wanted electric cars to take to the roads.  He wanted to stop the fires from burning in the coal mines.  How reasonable it was to make the world a better place.  Why wait for climate disaster when logical solutions abound to make the world a safe place for all?  He was a founder and senior advisor of the Foundation for a Green Future, Inc., a nonprofit organization in Roslindale created to bring about environmental awareness and help green our urban spaces while providing training and jobs for inner city residents (www.foundationforagreenfuture.org).   

Besides being a meticulous chemist, carpenter and cook, Austin loved flowers and his gardens filled the earth with beauty.  The Foundation for a Green Future, Inc. will be opening the Green Learning Center in Spring 2014 in Roslindale and it will carry his name.  Memorial contributions may be made to the Foundation for a Green Future, Inc., 4 Archdale Road, Roslindale, MA 02131.

There will be a Memorial Service for Austin on Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at 7 pm at Temple Ohabei Shalom, 1187 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA.