MURFREESBORO – To some he was only known as Dr. Weaver.

Others knew him as “Joe Dudley.”

However, what we all know is that on Nov. 21, 1998, the Roanoke-Chowan area lost a medical giant with a big heart.

The life and legacy of Dr. Joseph Dudley Weaver continues today, despite the passing of nearly 12 years since his death. That fact will be very apparent on Saturday, May 23 with the celebration of the Dr. J.D. Weaver Scholarship Banquet. The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Nebo Family Life Center, located at Nebo Baptist Church on US 258 just south of Murfreesboro.

Rev. Robert Sessoms will serve as the banquet’s featured speaker.

This marks the 11th year that the Weaver Foundation Scholarship Committee has awarded several thousand dollars in scholarships to high school seniors in the Roanoke-Chowan area where Dr. Weaver lived and worked for so many years.

The Foundation continues to carry on Dr. Weaver’s legacy as well as reaching out to help children as Dr. Weaver did for so many years as a family doctor.

“We organized with two goals in mind, to honor Dr. Weaver and to promote academics in his name,” said DuPont Davis who serves as chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Held on a biennial basis, the banquet will be the platform from where well-deserving high school seniors in the Roanoke-Chowan area will each receive scholarship funds to assist them in their pursuit of a college education. Davis said most recipients plan to study in a field related to medicine or healthcare.

“It is well known that Dr. Weaver never refused medical services to anyone, regardless of his or her ability to pay,” said Dwight Ransome, a member of the Foundation’s Board. “Our hearts and our minds should be just like that of Dr. Weaver.”

Both Davis and Ransome urged the public to make a donation to this scholarship fund so that these local young people will themselves pick-up the banner one day and continue Dr. Weaver’s legacy.

To contribute to the scholarship fund or to gain information concerning tickets to the banquet, contact Davis or Ransome or any Foundation Board member. That group includes Gary Lewter, Lillie Owens-White, Hilma B. Flood, M.B. Taylor, Norman L. Mebane, J. Wendell Hall, Joseph Wilson, Bertha Newsome King, Dr. Claudia Weaver-Richardson and the Honorable Donald P. Wilson.

Born and raised in Winton, Dr. Weaver was educated through the local public school system, graduating from Water’s Normal School before going on and earning his Bachelor of Science and Doctorate of Medicine from the prestigious Howard University.

Soon after being licensed to practice medicine in both North Carolina and Virginia, World War II broke out and, like many men of what is hailed as the greatest generation, Dr. Weaver served his country. Commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the US Medical Corps, he proudly served with the 372 Second Infantry Regiment for two years.

Over the course of the next five decades, Dr. Weaver served again – this time as the physician for multiple generations of patients. Ahoskie was his base of operations as he operated Weaver’s Clinic on Maple Street.

There may have been hours of business listed on the clinic’s door, but Dr. Weaver’s job never ended – before the sun came up until long after it went down. He was a country doctor and proud of that fact.

Driven by a desire to help the entire community, he later joined the practice of the Roanoke-Chowan Medical Center. He also served Roanoke-Chowan Hospital in a number of capacities; served as Medical Director of I.B.P.O.E. of W. Grand Lodge; was the physician for the Hertford County Law Enforcement Center; and served as Medical Examiner for both Hertford County and Gates County.