Eleanor Weeks Gaver

Eleanor Weeks Gaver, widow of Captain Oren Henry Gaver, Jr., USN (Ret.), passed away peacefully at Bishop Gadsden on the morning of Wednesday, December 28, 2016. Her funeral service will be held Tuesday, January 3rd, in The Chapel at Bishop Gadsden at 9:30 a.m., followed by a burial service in Beaufort National Cemetery at 2:00 p.m. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc., Downtown Chapel.

Eleanor was born in 1918 in Maysville, NC, the third daughter of the late George Ethelbert and Lovie Sigmon Weeks. At 16, she entered the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Upon graduating, she taught elementary school in Albemarle, NC. When WWII began she wanted to participate in the war effort, so she enrolled in a master's program in social work at Tulane University. When she graduated, she went to work for the Red Cross at Parris Island, where she met her future husband Captain Henry Gaver, a prosthodontist serving in the Navy. They were married in 1950 and were stationed in Bethesda, MD; Portsmouth, VA; Cherry Point, NC; Camp Lejeune, NC; Newport, RI; Bethesda, MD; Pensacola, FL and finally retired to Charleston, SC in 1970.

Eleanor led an active life teaching Sunday school and working with the Daughters of the King and the Altar Guild at Holy Trinity Church. She was also a member of the MUSC Faculty Auxiliary, the Charleston Garden Club, HELP, the Ladies Benevolent Society and The Lions Club Auxiliary. She and Dr. Gaver both enjoyed duplicate bridge at the country club and traveling throughout Europe, Russia and China.

Eleanor is survived by her sister, Sarah Weeks Pelletier (George Starling) of Durham, NC; her daughters: Caroline Weeks Gaver Trefzger (Charles) of Hickory, NC, Elizabeth Lyons Gaver of Charleston, SC, and Eleanor Ewing Gaver (Samuel Messer) of Brooklyn, NY; her grandchildren: Hunter Trefzger, Eleanor Trefzger Morales (Francisco), Henderson Trefzger, and Josephine Messer; and her great-granddaughter, Caroline Grace Morales.

She was preceded in death by her sisters, Margaret Weeks Hammond of Gainesville, FL and Christine Weeks Underwood of Greensboro, NC.

Many thanks and much love to the caring staff of Bishop Gadsden, who brought much joy to Eleanor's last years.

In lieu of flowers, donations made be made to Holy Trinity Church, 95 Folly Rd, Charleston, SC 29407 or the Ladies Benevolent Society of the City of Charleston, 64 Murray Blvd., Charleston, SC 29401.