WEAVER FAMILY

Hockey

Position: NHL Off-Ice Officials

The Weavers of Granite City, Illinois have established an admirable tradition of dedication to the sport of ice hockey.

Three generations of the family, beginning with the late Roy Weaver, have displayed tireless devotion to playing, coaching and officiating, beginning in the days when indoor ice rinks were difficult to find in the St. Louis region.

Roy, 1922-2009, began the tradition as a left-winger for the Octopus club in the early 1950s. He would also play in, and help organize, the Tri-State League as a member of the Springfield, Illinois Falcons in the late 1950s to mid 60s.

Roy would go on to start a learn-to-play program in Granite City in 1967 during the first year of the new rink. Roy co-founded the Granite City Amateur Hockey Association which grew to cover all youth age groups.

In 1973, he became a member of the NHL off-ice officials in St. Louis. Roy was the man who gave out numbered scraps of paper to kids prior to Blues games. They then would exchange the numbers for broken hockey sticks of the pros after the game.

Mr. Weaver was inducted into the St. Louis Amateur Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011. Before he retired as an off-ice official in 2005, Roy would see his three sons become officials as well.

Son Larry, a right-winger, also played for the Springfield Falcons in the Tri-State League and in the St. Louis Senior Men’s league for the Kutis and Falstaff teams.

Larry coached youth hockey, and is a former President of the Granite City Amateur Hockey organization. He was the AAA representative to the Missouri Amateur Hockey Board and then Commissioner of Mo-Am hockey. He has been an NHL off-ice official as a penalty timekeeper since 1988.

Son Lon, a right-winger and defenseman, played for Winterland in the peewee, bantam and midget divisions. At age 15 he played in the Senior Men’s League. Lon coached in the Granite City organization and has been a referee and linesman for all age groups. He’s been an NHL off-ice official in several capacities since 1990.

Another of Roy’s sons, Tim, was a left-hand shot defenseman and played in the peewee and bantam divisions in Granite City, and midgets in the Spanish Lake league. He refereed mite hockey through high school and was an NHL off-ice official from 1978 through 1992.

Roy’s grandson, and Larry’s son, Nathan, played as a right-shot defenseman in the Granite City Association, the St. Louis Crusaders AAA club, Granite City varsity hockey in 1989-92. He also played three seasons with the St. Louis Junior Blues and three with the St. Louis U. Billikens ACHA D1 Club Hockey. From 2015-17 Nathan coached squirt hockey for the Twin Bridges Association.

He has continued the family tradition as an NHL off-ice official from 2011 to the present day. The growth of the sport of ice hockey in the St. Louis region parallels, and certainly has benefitted from, the amazing dedication exhibited by the Roy Weaver family of Granite City.