Remembering Janet Weber '59

Beloved Mentor and Artist

Immaculate Heart mourns the loss of former art teacher and alumna Janet Weber, Class of 1959, who died Sunday, July 30, following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

A memorial for Janet will be held at Immaculate Heart on Saturday, November 18th at 1:00 PM.

“We are deeply saddened by Janet’s passing,” said Immaculate Heart President Maureen S. Diekmann, Class of 1969. “Janet was more than an art teacher; she was involved with every facet of life on campus.”

A practicing artist and a master teacher, Weber retired in 2007 after teaching for 43 years at Immaculate Heart. In that time, she built and molded the art department as well as nurtured the artistic talents of legions of students, many of whom remain art professionals to this day.

Weber honed her own artistic skills at Immaculate Heart College where she studied serigraphy, a form of silkscreen printing popularized by her teacher, the legendary Sister Corita Kent, IHM. After earning her degree, Weber returned to her high school alma mater where she taught all levels of art, including mixed media and computer graphics. She also introduced computers on campus for yearbook design.

Weber’s forte, however, remained calligraphy, a skill she learned from master calligrapher Donald Jackson, then Scribe to the Queen of England. She later co-founded the Los Angeles-based Society of Calligraphy, and she continued to share her passion for calligraphy with her students.

Along with her teaching role, Weber served for many years as co-moderator of the Genesians Drama Club. She was also a set designer and assistant director for major IH theatre productions. She left her mark on the campus landscape, too, where she designed and planted numerous garden areas featuring native plants.

Inspiring Generations of Artists

Immaculate Heart High School & Middle School

5515 Franklin Avenue • Los Angeles, California 90028
phone: (323) 461-3651 • fax: (323) 462-0610

A Catholic, independent college preparatory school for girls in grades 6 through 12, Immaculate Heart has been located on a beautiful hillside property in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles since our founding by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1906. We celebrate more than a century of nurturing the spiritual, intellectual, social and moral development of students as they distinguish themselves as women of great heart and right conscience.