a legacy of resilience and community
By Macee Swafford Staff Writer
Alice Fae Weiland doesn’ t consider herself remarkable. She doesn’ t talk about awards or recognition, and she certainly doesn’ t seek attention. Instead, she focuses on what she can do— what needs to be done— and how she can help others feel capable, included, and valued.
“ I’ ve got this intention of fortitude,” Weiland said.“ If I could have done it and I did it— anybody could do it.”
That belief was forged early. Weiland was born and raised locally in Whitley County, but her childhood was marked by instability common to many Appalachian families in the mid-20th century. Jobs were scarce, and her family, like many others, moved north in search of work.“ Back in the’ 50s and’ 60s, there was no jobs for anybody,” she recalled.“ Everybody went to Detroit or Cincinnati.”
Her family bounced back and forth between states as layoffs came and went. At seven years old, Weiland broke her hip due to Padget’ s Disease— an injury that disrupted her schooling at a time when buses and accommodations didn’ t exist. By the time her family moved again, she had only completed about three months of school.
“ They took this little girl that had three months in school and put her in the third grade,” she said.“ And I thought I was going to die.”
Reading didn’ t come easily, and years later she would wonder if undiagnosed dyslexia played a role.“ I could read, but I was really slow,” she said.“ Everybody would be finished, and I’ d still be trying to figure it out.”
Weiland pictured in her younger years in a dress, made from the fabric of a feed sack, by her mother.
| Photo contributed by Jim Moss
Still, she persisted— bolstered by a father who believed deeply in selfreliance.“ He taught me that if he couldn’ t do it, I could,” she said.“ I was raised with the attitude that I could do anything.” That determination carried her far beyond what many would have expected. Weiland earned a bachelor’ s degree in medical laboratory technology, passed her boards, and worked in hospitals before deciding the demanding schedule wasn’ t ideal for family life. She later returned to earn her teaching certification and taught wherever life took her.
In the early 1990s, she returned home to teach medical laboratory courses at Southeast Community College.“ They hired me in the parking lot,” she recalled. Teaching was her passion, and she loved it deeply. But by 2003, worsening mobility forced her into retirement.
“ I cried every time I got a paycheck when I retired,” she said.“ I missed it.”
Retirement, however, didn’ t mean stopping. Weiland needed purpose. She set two goals: make a quilt and learn basket weaving. The quilt took a year. Basket weaving became something more.
She took hundreds of
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