Memorial Day: A Personal Story
Memorial Day: A Personal Story
A final exhibit by Jeanne Harris Weaver of her art works, Losing
Todd: A Mother’s Journey will take place this Memorial Day
week at the Porcher House in Cocoa. The twenty-one oil
paintings have been exhibited 36 times throughout the east coast
of the United States including at the Florida State Capitol in
2023.
These painting were created in 2011-2012 after Jeanne’s
youngest child, Army 1LT Todd William Weaver was killed in
action in Kandahar, Afghanistan Sep. 9, 2010. The subject
matter for each painting came to Jeanne by listening to the
words spoken by others. Those words are exhibited along with
the paintings.
The Porcher House, 434 Delannoy Ave, Cocoa, will be open
Monday, May 19 through Friday, May 23, from 11 AM to 3 PM
to view the art work and to meet Jeanne. In addition, Friday,
May 23 and Memorial Day May 26 will be Meet the Artist Day
with refreshments.
On Memorial Day, Jeanne will be present at the Porcher House
from 1 to 4:30. She will then take time out to participate in the
Memorial Day event as Keynote Speaker at Riverfront Park,
Cocoa at 5 PM. Upon the completion of the event she will
return to the Porcher House from 6 – 7PM.
This event will be the last exhibition of these paintings by
Jeanne. She is gifting the paintings to The College of William and Mary and the Muscarelle Museum of Art where the
paintings will be exhibited in perpetuity every four years in
memory of their alumnus and hero, 1LT Todd William Weaver.
By doing so, each student of the college will come to know
something about this man whose life was taken at the age of 26.
At the Porcher House, Jeanne will also have a limited number of
copies of her book with the same title. Losing Todd: A Mother’s
Journey was published by The College of William and Mary in
2015. It is a collection of essays about Todd and the paintings.
Included is an essay former Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates.
