Heritage
Our Heritage
Rev John Isaac Alexander Weeks (JIA Weeks), a Methodist minister and farmer, our paternal grandfather, and the only child of his parents, was born in Liberia 1893, and died at age 80 in 1973. Our paternal grandmother, Rosetta L. Ledlow was born in Liberia and died in 1953. JIA Weeks’ parents were born in Barbados, West Indies and were children when they arrived in Liberia with their parents on May 10, 1865. The families settled in the Township of Crozierville, Montserrado County, Liberia, an 8 square miles settlement, about 20 miles from Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.
Our grandfather, JIA Weeks was the 1st in this Weeks lineage to be born in Liberia, he is 1st generation Bajan-Liberian; we are 3rd generation Bajan-Liberian. Consequently, our heritage is indelibly linked to Crozierville, and we are committed to Crozierville’s restoration and development…a dream of our parents, that became deferred.
Our parents, Dr. Rocheforte L. Weeks and Eupheme G. Cooper Weeks instilled in us, as did their parents, the perpetual importance of honesty and integrity, respect for other people’s money, service to others, and that the key to being successful requires two salient ingredients: a good education and a good / strong work ethic.
The son of a farmer, our Dad spent his early years in Crozierville and, like all the brothers in their turn, he contributed his share in hard work on the farm to help earn the daily bread and sustenance of the family. He and his older brother James took their turn first in assisting their father on the farm, followed in their turn by the younger brothers. From these humble beginnings, our father learned valuable lessons of a positive work ethic.
Our father believed in hard work and education as tools to raise oneself to higher heights. He pursued this belief by fostering the education of his children and our country’s children. His belief is encapsulated in his Commencement address to the University of Liberia on February 16, 1983:
“I believe that in a developing country, where the circumstances dictate, the construction of buildings may be suspended; the erection of monuments may be postponed, or the procurement of certain equipment may be curtailed. But I nevertheless believe that we must never suspend or postpone, or curtail, or abandon, even for a moment, the provision of sound and relevant education of our youth of today – our leaders of tomorrow – without disastrous consequences to national stability, economic development and our all-consuming struggle against ignorance, poverty and disease!”
His children continue to carry this torch in all our endeavors, working towards the betterment of our community, our people and the leaders of tomorrow, as well as our country. As children of Rocheforte and Eupheme, we have achieved much success in our individual capacities but continue to work for the betterment of our country and its people, realizing that individual success pales in comparison to collective success. Remembering that Crozierville and what it stands for is a major component of our heritage, we strive for a better Crozierville and a better Liberia by building on our parents’ legacy for the revival of the land we call home.