Sean was born June 23, 1963, in Sacramento, CA. He was adopted at birth by his mother Anna, a Nurse, and his father Wilhelm Weber, a math teacher. He has a brother, who is 5 years older, named Paul. Early education was important to his parents, and they read to him often as a child. I recall his father saying that when he started kindergarten, the teacher introduced a book to the class and said, “This is a book, and these are pages; see, number one and number two.” Smart Alec little Sean asked if she was going to continue to do that all the way up to page 27? He was immediately promoted to first grade!
Sean went to Elk Grove High School (go Thundering Herd!). He was known as a plebe to the popular girls, doing them favors and helping them with school work; a true Geek and often ridiculed by those very same girls. It was in high school that he began collecting comic books, which he continued till his death, over 4,000 books later (he still had all of them.) It was at this time that he discovered Star Trek—that’s Star Trek, not to be mistaken with Star Wars. There’s a big difference, you know—Star Wars was a newcomer kid’s show, and Star Trek preceded it and was much more intellectual!
Sean went on to California State University at Sacramento, and studied Computer Science. While there, he worked at Radio Shack at the local mall. I was a manager at another Radio Shack a few miles away. I needed a product; a digital alarm key pad from his store. He offered to deliver it to me, and while there, asked me out. From there it was history! Sean heavily pursued me, and I liked his intelligence and sense of humor, not to mention that he was a cute blonde! He would often surprise me. One evening, we went out for ice cream at a local creamery. As we were leaving, he announced to the whole restaurant, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m crazy about this girl!”
Sean graduated from college in 1987 with a BS in Computer Science. He immediately took a job in Concord as a computer programmer for the Navy. He worked as a Computer Scientist at the Concord Naval Weapons Station until it closed in 2008, and his unit transferred to a new office in Cordelia. He continued there until his retirement in 2019, 32 years later.
Sean was more sure about me than I was about him. Truth be known, I wanted to break up with him 3 times. The first time, we had been dating for about 4 months, and I was about to break up with him. However, he got an infection from his wisdom tooth extraction and wound up in the hospital. So, you know, I couldn’t break up with him then! A few months later, I went to break up with him, but his grandmother died, and well, I couldn’t break up with him while he was grieving! Next, he moved to Concord to pursue his career with the Navy, and we had a long-distance relationship. I was about to break up with him, figuring this wasn’t going to work, when he proposed! And I said yes. It wasn’t really that much of a surprise. It was the fourth of July, and we were going to see fireworks. On the walk from the parked car to the firework venue, he kept telling everyone we passed that he was going to ask me to marry him at the fireworks. I thought he was just joking, but no, he was serious, and he did propose. We were married in 1988 and enjoyed 36 years as husband and wife.
In 1998, Sean suffered kidney failure due to complications from diabetes. He went through dialysis three times a week for five years. In all that time, he maintained his daily life and continued to work full time. In May of 2003, he received a kidney and pancreas transplant. Thanks to the pancreas transplant, he was no longer a diabetic! He lived 21 more years without a rejection episode or any illness related to his transplanted organs. Even in the end, it wasn’t his kidney or pancreas that failed him.
After his transplant Sean and I began to travel more. In 2006, we went on our first cruise to Alaska. We were hooked! Unpack your bags once, and in the morning, your hotel has moved, and you’re in a new city to explore! We began taking a cruise or major vacation every 2 years.
Previously we had met Ed and Sue Pena. Ed was a big, burly retired Coast Guardsman into sci-fi, action, and historical novels and movies, and scrawny Sean loved him. Ed was the big dog, and Sean was the little dog following him. If Ed and Susan were going on a cruise to the Mediterranean, we’d go. If Ed and Susan wanted to go to Disney World, we’d go. If Ed and Susan wanted to cruise down the coast of South America around the Cape, and back up, we’d go too. Ed passed away from a long-term illness in January, and two months later Sean followed him.
Sean and I both shared a love of all things Star Trek, even having a family room dedicated to it. Several custom collectibles were made for him, including a Klingon Bat’leth, by our artist friend Randy Fay.
While making arrangements for Sean’s cremation, I found that the Neptune Society could make arrangements for ashes to be rocketed off to the moon. I immediately knew that this is what we should do. Sean’s ashes will be rocketed to the moon in the first quarter of 2026.
At the beginning of Star Trek, they declared their intent to “…boldly go where no man has gone before.” Well, a few others have gone before, and now Sean will boldly go…
