Thomas Patterson Weidner passed away at home in Cranbury, NJ on May 31, 2021 with his wife by his side following a valiant struggle against the complications of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. He was 73 years of age. Tom proudly lived most of his life in the family home purchased by his parents in 1946 and purchased from them when they retired in 1976. He graduated from The Cranbury School in 1961 and moved on to Hightstown High School.
At Hightstown, Tom continued to excel, graduating first in his class to being the first two-year editor-in-chief of the school newspaper his junior and senior years. He also served as Vice President and President of the Student Council and was President of his class his freshman and sophomore years. Tom was an outstanding athlete in soccer, baseball and basketball, serving as captain for all three sports, being named most valuable player in two sports and being named honorable mention all-state in soccer his senior year. Tom was inducted into the Hightstown High School Athletic Hall of Fame in both soccer and baseball.
Following graduation from Hightstown, Tom attended Princeton University from which he graduated with a A.B. degree in Economics. A three year letter winner in soccer, Tom was captain of the team his senior year and received the Davis S. Hackett Memorial Cup for his enthusiasm, discipline and leadership.
Tom was inspired to be a lawyer from attending court proceedings held by his uncle, Judge Clinton Weidner in Pennsylvania. So, after Princeton, Tom attended University of Wisconsin Law School where he received his J.D. degree, cum laude in 1972. During law school, Tom joined the Army National Guard from which he was honorably discharged.
Following graduation from law school, Tom served as a Deputy Attorney General in the New Jersey Attorney General’s of ce from 1972-1976 in the Environmental Protection Section. He then joined Jamieson, McCardell, Moore, Peskin and Spicer in Princeton where he specialized in litigation and served as managing partner. Tom was a Certi ed Civil Practice Attorney and served as President of the Mercer County Bar Association in 1990. Among his many accomplishments, Tom argued the constitutionality of New Jersey’s Automobile Reform Act before the New Jersey Supreme Court. At the time of his retirement from the practice of law, Tom was a partner in Windels, Marx, Lane and Mittendorf where he had continued his litigation and insurance regulatory practices.
Volunteering was important to Tom and he served in many capacities. He was a member of the Cranbury Township Planning Board and Cranbury Township Committee and served as Mayor several times during his tenures. He was honored to play a part in preserving Cranbury’s farmland. He was, at the time of his death, a proud long-time member of the Cranbury Township Parks Commission and served as Chair for many years. Tom was a Board Member of the United Way of Greater Mercer County, served as Chair of that Board, and was a member of the Board of the Princeton Internships for Civic Service for 13 years. Finally, Tom served as Trustee of the Princeton Area Community Foundation which supported a number of Trenton NJ organizations (his wife’s hometown) and chaired the Committee on Trustees during his tenure.
Tom’s son Matt followed in his father’s footsteps as an athlete and Tom coached most of his soccer, baseball and basketball teams, rearranging his law schedule so he never missed a game.
Tom was predeceased by his parents, Jean and Les Weidner and his siblings, Chuck, Fritz and Lucy Weidner. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Joan Markiewicz Weidner, their son, Matthew Carl Weidner, of Los Angeles, his sisters-in-law, Leigh Carol Freeman, Sherred Weidner and Holly Weidner, and cherished cousins, nieces, nephews and friends…and a very loyal labrador retriever, Caneel.
The family expresses their deepest gratitude to Tom’s doctors, nurses and physician assistants at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia for their compassion and extraordinary care over these past years, as well as Penn Home Health Care and Palliative Care teams at Princeton who were kind, considerate and professional, and were of enormous help to Tom over the last two years.
Calling hours will be held from 4pm to 8pm Friday, June 4, 2021, at the Barlow & Zimmer Funeral Home, 202 Stockton Street, Hightstown, NJ 08520. Funeral services will be held 11am Saturday, June 5 at the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury, 22 South Main Street, Cranbury, NJ 08512. In lieu of owers, donations in Tom’s name may be made to the Cranbury First Aid Squad, 68 Maplewood Avenue, Cranbury NJ 08512, or the Cranbury Vol. Fire Company, 2 South Main Street, Cranbury, NJ 08512.