Verla Mae Weaver

Verla Mae Weaver

February 15, 1939 – April 13, 2026

Verla Mae (Carstensen) Weaver passed away peacefully on Monday morning April 13th, 2026, at home in Green Valley, AZ.

Verla Mae was born February 15, 1939, to Louie and Frances (LeMaster) Carstensen in Spearfish, SD where the family lived on their Centennial Valley ranch near Spearfish.

She graduated from high school in Spearfish and married her high school sweetheart Jim Weaver on April 6th, 1958. She worked for several companies in Rapid City in order to help fund Jim's Civil Engineering college courses at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. After graduation the young couple moved to Boise, ID, where daughter Tami was born. They lived in many additional states while Jim worked for the Federal Highway Administration doing engineering and surveying work for the new Interstate Highway System. They finally settled in St. Paul, MN in 1964, where son Mark was born. The family moved to Burke, VA in 1975 where Verla coordinated international conferences for the Department of Commerce and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).

In 1994 Jim and Verla retired from the federal government and moved back to Spearfish, where they were involved with their community and many local organizations including the Lawrence County Historical Society, and the Model T Club. They loved preparing and running tours for both clubs in order to share the history of the Black Hills area.

Verla enjoyed sewing, cooking, baking delicious cinnamon roles and saffron cake and traveling, especially to the National Parks; she planned many family vacations to the Tetons, Yellowstone, the Rockies, Bryce and Zion Canyons, the Grand Canyon, Alaska, the Canadian Rockies and many parks along the East Coast. She even rafted down a section of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon with her kids and grandkids. She also loved photography and made sure that every family gathering included many snapshots of the whole group!

Verla is survived by her devoted husband of 68 years, Jim Weaver; her daughter Tami Kovalick and husband Bill of Davidsonville, MD and son Mark Weaver and partner Beth Sands of Gettysburg, PA. She was the proud grandmother of Benjamin Kovalick and wife Laura of Charlotte, NC, Jennifer Haas and husband Brett of Wilmington, DE, Amberly Hennigan and husband Andrew of Mt. Airy, MD, Mark Jr. Weaver of Gettysburg, PA, Jacqueline Weaver and fiancé Bradyn Riley of Harpers Ferry, WV. She also leaves behind cherished great grandchildren, Theodore, Zelie and baby Daphne, sister-in-law Irene Morrissey and husband Robert of Oneonta, NY and their children and grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Virginia Hochhalter, brother Duane Carstensen and two young brothers, Clifford and Myron Carstensen.

A graveside service will be held at Rose Hill Cemetery in Spearfish, SD, where Verla Mae will be laid to rest in the hills she loved so dearly.