KINGWOOD, Texas — Lela Bess “Lulu” Kite Weber was born in Dallas, Texas.

She grew up in Monroe, Louisiana, where she was a cheerleader at Neville High School.

She was a truly gifted piano player playing by ear and by note.  She could play anything from classical to honky-tonk.  Just hum a few bars and she’d start playing those keys!  In high school she even had the opportunity to play piano while Louis Armstrong played his trumpet live! 

She started her college career at LSU, where she pledged Tri Delta sorority.  Her sophomore year she transferred to Louisiana Tech University to be closer to home.

In 1956, she graduated from Louisiana Tech University and married the love of her life, Pat Weber. Lela taught school for a number of years but spent most of her time raising her children.  She loved Halloween and even created special “Halloween Carols!”

She loved doing anything that involved her family and she and her husband attended every event their children were in. She loved vacationing at the beach and having her toes in the sand. She was also a member of the Vicksburg Library Board and the Presbyterian Church’s Chrismon Tree committee. 

She was an avid genealogist and traced her and her husband’s family tree through probably 10 generations.  Her favorite part of that was tracing her Cherokee Indian Heritage.  She was a voting member of the tribe and made sure her children and grandchildren had their official Cherokee member cards. 

After her children were raised, she began pursuing her favorite hobby — miniatures! And what wonderful homes and scenes she created!  All of them revolving around her family — her daughter’s condo in miniature, her grandmother’s house, family Christmas scenes!  And the details from the furniture to the portraits were meticulous!

In 1989 when she and her husband moved to Baton Rouge, La., Lela joined the Baton Rouge Miniature Society. It was here that she had her Louisiana scenes on special exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum.

In Baton Rouge she was also a member of the LSU Book Barn Committee.  After moving to Fairhope, Ala., in 2011, Lela continued her passion for miniatures, this time becoming involved in the Mobile Miniature Society.

In 2018, after she was unable to work with her miniatures anymore due to cancer and Alzheimer’s, the History Museum of Mobile created a permanent display of her works entitled the Lela Weber Collection. 

 Lela is survived by her husband of 63 years, Pat Weber; her daughter, Angela Weber Wilson, husband Steve and grandson Capers, as well as her son Pat Weber III, his wife Kristy and grandchildren Andy, Kassidy, and Brandon Weber; and she is survived by her sister Mary Katherine “KK” Lorbeck.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to MD Anderson Cancer Center https://gifts.mdanderson.org/; your local Alzheimer’s group www.alz.org; or the charity of your choice.

 A Celebration of Life was held Monday, June 24, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Darst Funeral Home, 796 Russell Palmer Road in Kingwood.  Burial services will be held Saturday June 29 at 11 a.m. at Magnolia Cemetery 422 N 19th in Baton Rouge, La.