Johnene “Jonnie” Weaver, Animation Coordinator for the Visual and Performing Arts Division, died Jan. 1 at 56, succumbing to heart failure at Glendale Adventist Medical Center.

Weaver brought professional animators and major studio elements to campus, helping to enhance GCC’s role as a training school for the ever-growing medium.

Weaver graduated from Glendale Union Academy in 1963 and a year later began her undergraduate studies at Glendale College. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena in 1968.

Weaver and her husband Bob, an art instructor at GCC, met in 1964 and were married in 1968. Two years later they resettled in Canada where they had a son, Robert, in 1974. They returned to California soon after.

Weaver came to work at GCC in 1991, where she first worked as a clerk-typist, then went on to establish a new governance office on campus. Governance follows the state mandate to involve faculty and staff in campus policymaking. Math instructor Lynn Pomeroy, a close friend and co-worker, remembers Weaver as a person who would associate herself with anyone who worked on campus. She was an “automatic guest” around campus, Pomeroy said, at one time having lunch with the members of the Math Division every Friday.

Weaver was a member of the GCC Faculty Guild, as a Classified representative, and in 1992, became the first governance officer. In that role, she was liaison between the Guild, the Academic Senate, and the Classified union.

She was also on the editorial board and was a writer for “Chaparral,” the faculty newsletter.

“She had this global vision of everything working together,” said Pomeroy. “Whenever she was on a committee, if she had something to say, it was important. She was very logical and effective and would always make good points.”

That logic and effectiveness would carry over to the animation program that Weaver helped found in 1997. Pomeroy recalled attending a movie screening with Weaver at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank: “We walked in the door. Her cards were in her pocket, her hand was out right away as she’d says ‘Hi, I’m Jonnie Weaver, animation coordinator.’

“All these big-wigs were there. She was very comfortable talking up the college program, asking what part it could play. She was so excited about the program. She was the program.”

“She had been looking so good,” said Jennifer Looney, who took over as governance officer when Weaver began working in the Animation Department. “Everyone knew that she had been battling an illness. It’s always a shock to see somebody so vital and so involved, to not be there.”

Weaver is survived by her husband Bob of 32 years and their son Robert, 26. The family held a private service Jan. 13. A memorial scholarship for Weaver will be established. There will be a memorial service on Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. in the auditorium.