Wealthea Fortune Weaver

Wealtha Fortune Weaver, age 83, passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Wealtha was a long-time resident of Ocean Springs as well as Palos Verdes and Big Bear Lake, California. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, over the years she moved many places as being the daughter of a father who was in the Navy. She attended Monmouth University in New Jersey and theater and dance in New York City and then in 1963 attended and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education.

Wealtha taught school in Ocean Springs and Gulfport before relocating to Palos Verdes, California, where she received a degree in litigation and a California state certification in dispute resolution from the LA Bar Association. Wealtha worked for law firms while living in Palos Verdes then moved to Big Bear Lake and opened her own legal business. She then relocated back to Ocean Springs when her grandson was born in 2001.

Wealtha was a loving mother and grandmother and will be missed by all that knew her and is preceded in death by her parents, Captain William C. Fortune and Elizabeth O. Fortune; and her siblings Elaine Valkass and Laurie Jaffe.

Survivors include her three children, Christopher Weaver, Sande Weaver Hentges and Scott Weaver; as well as her grandson, Kyle William Hentges, along with many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Wealtha is known for her role in helping to preserve the regional history of early American space exploration. Being the daughter of U.S. Navy Captain William C. Fortune, the first director of NASA's Mississippi Test Operations (now the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, MS).

While her father was a pioneer in early rocketry—appointed by Dr. Wernher von Braun in 1962 to build the massive Apollo rocket testing facility—Wealtha's contributions lie in the realm of oral history and community education.

Wealtha will be remembered for her kind and generous spirit, her open heart and a gift for helping other people and animals.

A private memorial with family is being held in placing her ashes in the memorial garden at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ocean Springs. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Humane Society of South Mississippi, 2615 25th Avenue, Gulfport, MS 39501.

Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15th Street, Gulfport, is honored to serve the family of Wealtha Fortune Weaver.