Alice Deleva Weiss

There must have been a rare wind the night Alice Deleva was born, as this mother of two, grandmother of seven, and great-grandmother of six was forever a navigator who blazed her own path, never took “no” for an answer and almost always got her way.

She grew up in Northern California with her dear sister Roberta and brothers Bobby and Roy Charles. Never one to let the grass grow under her feet, the day after she graduated from Grass Valley High School she got on a bus to Los Angeles and lied about her age to join the ranks as a United Airlines flight attendant. It is worth noting, and Alice would have wanted it so, that her uniform fit until the day she died.

She was invited on a blind date with Naval Petty Officer Richard (Dick) Weiss, which she did not enjoy at all. But the second date went much better than the first, and the two were wed in 1957. Shortly after that they welcomed children Carey (Karen, KC) McMillan and Captain Brian Weiss, USN retired. The family settled in San Pedro in 1963, and she occasionally pulled her children out of school to spend the day exploring Los Angeles.

As her children grew, Alice became more active in hiking and needlepoint groups, and also took classes under the tuition of renowned ceramicist Frank Matranga. A chance friendship formed in one of these classes led her to seek her 100-ton vessel license and to serve as Captain for the Neptune Society for over 40 years, presiding over thousands of burials at sea. It is widely believed that she was the first woman to captain a commercial vessel in these parts, but we’ll probably never know for certain as Captain Alice was not one to gloat.

She and Dick shared a love of adventurous travel, and together and individually they explored the world. They off-roaded to the southern tip of Baja before the main road was paved. When visiting her son and his family in Japan, she accidentally walked into a private tea ceremony. The hosts not only invited her to stay, they gave her the linens.

She will be remembered fondly by all who knew her sparkling smile and warm embrace. We’ll miss our Captain, and wish her fair winds and following seas.

Please contact the family or the Neptune Society of San Pedro for service details. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in her memory to the Los Angeles Maritime Institute to support young mariners at lamitopsail.org