Rebecca Riedel Weegar
                   June 16, 1954-March 29, 2018
                           Palo Alto, California 
 

Rebecca Riedel Weegar (Becky) passed away suddenly on March 29. Becky was born on June 16, 1954 at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas to John Kenneth Riedel and Deborah McBride Riedel. She grew up in Palo Alto and graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1972. She spent a year as an exchange student in the Netherlands, becoming fluent in Dutch, and returned to the U.S. to attend U.C. Santa Barbara. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Zoology in 1978.

Becky worked as a clinical research associate and specialized in the management of pharmaceutical and biotech clinical trials. She owned her own corporation, and worked with medical professionals across the western part of the United States, managing trials for emerging treatments for ovarian and prostate cancers, HIV, hepatitis C and diabetes, among others. In 1985, she married Mark Weegar. Together they joined the Peace Corps and worked in Kenya as aquaculture specialists, teaching small-scale farmers and families how to improve their nutrition and rural livelihoods through fish farming. Becky had a lot of stories about her experiences in Kenya, but she was most remembered by fellow Peace Corps volunteers for the delicious brownies she made on a wood-burning stove. As a couple, Becky and Mark were known for their adventurous outlook on life, never afraid to pick up and head off to a new place. Their professional livelihoods took them up and down California, from the Bay Area, to Sacramento, San Diego and San Luis Obispo. They spent a year working and living in Okinawa, Japan. Currently residents of Sacramento, they were in the process of moving to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where Becky had already formed a large network of friends.

She had a talent for making and keeping friends, wherever she went. But her closest friends were still those she met here in Palo Alto – her best friend, Kim Harvey, from 5th grade class at Walter Hays and their circle of friends from Palo Alto High School. Becky was always ready to learn something new. She was an avid reader, loved to write; she shaped beautiful ceramic bowls, was a skilled seamstress and an intuitive and natural cook. Each of her homes was full of beauty – warm and inviting and exuding of hospitality. She also had a wonderful laugh. Becky is survived by her husband Mark; two sisters, Roberta Riedel of Palo Alto, and Sandra Riedel of San Diego; brother-in-law Michael Greenwald of San Diego; three aunts and many loving cousins.