Brothers remembered for community service

By Josh Rutenberg     8/20/09 7:00pm

Stone Taylor Weeks, 24, and William Holt Weeks, 20, died in a car crash July 23 en route to Washington, D.C. The brothers, both researchers at the Baker Institute of Public Policy, were traveling to visit family and friends, and to attend a party celebrating the release of history professor and Baker Institute fellow Douglas Brinkley's new book, The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America. Within the history department, Stone worked for Brinkley as a research assistant after graduating with a B.A. in History from the University of Delaware in 2007.

"I dearly miss Stone," Brinkley said. "It's going to take years to reorganize my scholarly life without him. His presence will be greatly missed at Rice."

When Christopher Bronk, a fellow in technology, society and public policy at the Baker Institute, needed a summer intern in 2008, Stone nominated his younger brother, who went by his middle name, Holt.

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"Holt was very diligent and incredibly upbeat," Bronk said. "He suffered from being second-guessed by me and other professors, but he was always willing to go back to the drawing board. He enjoyed the challenge."

Holt began working for Bronk in the summer of 2008, while still attending Eckerd College in Saint Petersburg, Fla. Bronk said Holt transferred to Rice this summer both for a more rigorous academic experience and to be closer to Stone, but never matriculated. The research Holt conducted on green computing led to the development of a graduate-level course on environmental sustainability and technology.

The Weeks brothers had a long streak of philanthropy. The brothers spent Sundays feeding the homeless. Stone participated in a muscular dystrophy camp and Habitat for Humanity. Likewise, Holt served in student government at his high school, where he started a fundraising campaign to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The Stone and Holt Weeks Foundation has been set up in their memory, with the mission, "to make the world a better place for all." The foundation will support causes that the brothers championed in life, like The Beacon in Houston, Habitat for Humanity and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Stone and Holt were born in Savannah, Geo., and Little Rock, Ark., respectively. The brothers grew up in Bethesda, Md., and were very close throughout their lives. They enjoyed playing sports together, eating sushi and singing karaoke. Stone was researching the history of the environmental movement, while Holt was looking into environmental technology.

Friends and family created a Facebook page in their memory to share stories and their support.

Stone and Holt are survived by their parents, Linton Weeks, a national correspondent for NPR Digital News, and Jan Taylor Weeks, an Artist-in-Residence at the Marchutz School in Aix-en-Provence, France. A celebration of Stone and Holt's lives was held August 2 at the Washington National Cathedral.

A memorial is expected to take place at the Baker Institute once the family is ready, Bronk said.

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