Fred Weakley
July 1, 1921-Oct. 5, 2024
Pleasanton, California

After a journey that lasted over 103 years, our beloved father, Fred Weakley, passed away peacefully on October 5, 2024. Fred was born on July 1, 1921 in Burlingame, CA after his parents, Frederick and Laura, and brother, Robert, moved west from Pittsburgh. Soon after, the family moved to San Leandro, CA and his father started a business in Oakland that manufactured and sold men’s hats. In spite of opening the shop one month before the 1929 stock market crash and the start of the Great Depression, the family persevered and the hat shop, as it was simply known, survived and eventually thrived. While attending San Leandro High School, Fred met the love of his life, Grace Gale, and they were married on January 31, 1942. Fred was only 20 years old at the time, so he needed his parents’ permission, which they enthusiastically gave. A few weeks later, Fred was drafted into the Merchant Marines and sent to Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn for basic training. In an incredible stroke of luck, after he completed his training, Fred was assigned to a security detail at the US Maritime Service Officer Training School at Neptune Beach in Alameda, CA for the duration of his service. Adding to his good fortune, the base lacked sufficient housing, so he was given a stipend to live off base. Since home was just a few miles away, it couldn’t have worked out any better for him and Grace.

Fred and brother Bob, with significant help from mother Laura, eventually took over operation of the hat shop after Fred’s father suffered a series of heart attacks. They ran the shop until 1960 when hats, which were once de rigueur for men, went out of fashion and the shop was closed. After taking some time off, Fred got his real estate license and began a second career in residential real estate sales that eventually led to becoming a successful commercial real estate developer starting in the 1970s. Fred and his partners specialized in buying well-located properties and obtaining development entitlements, then selling or leasing the parcels to oil companies for gas stations and national food service corporations for restaurants. By the 1990s, Fred was no longer actively developing properties, but he continued to manage the partnership’s assets and didn’t truly retire until he was in his mid 90s.

Fred acquired a love of sports from his father, particularly baseball, but it was the San Francisco 49ers that he enjoyed the most, so much so that in 1947, when the Niners were members of the All-America Football Conference, he purchased season tickets. He continued to be a season ticket holder throughout the Kezar Stadium days and until 2014 when the team moved from Candlestick Park to Levi’s Stadium.

Fred will be fondly remembered as a loving and inspirational father, a true gentleman who charmed everyone he met, as someone who loved to laugh and make others laugh, but most of all he will forever be remembered as a husband who was profoundly devoted to his wife, both in life and after her passing. He will join his beloved Grace at the Chapel of the Chimes columbarium in Oakland, California.

Fred was preceded in death by wife Grace (2010), father Fred E. Weakley, Sr. (1948), mother Laura (Wassum, 1980) and brother Robert (1970). He is survived by his five children Michael Weakley (Emmy) of Walnut Creek, Patricia Willis of Pleasanton, Barbara Weakley (Bill Saltzman) of Castro Valley, Daniel Weakley (Irene) of San Ramon and Joan Weakley (Robert Ingraham) of New York City. He also leaves behind granddaughters Andrea Cook (Jason) of Lee’s Summit, MO, Heather Saltzman of San Francisco, Laura Saltzman of Los Angeles and Allison Weakley of Burlingame; and great-granddaughters Riley Cook of Lee’s Summit and Margaux (Saltzman) Stark of San Francisco.