Molly B. Weaver

Molly died 23 January 2026. She was a beloved daughter, wife, mother, scholar and friend whose life, though a far too short 54 years, was marked by intellectual brilliance, compassion and deep commitment to family and community. She met and worked with others with amazing grace and was known for her honest sparkle.

LIFE Her mother delivered her at Bozeman Deaconess Hospital ten minutes after her arrival, by bicycle. She was a rosy cheeked angel of a child: cooing in her basket under the table while others dined in a restaurant, riding in my backpack to ski, marching with her mother and brother in parades.

Pre-college Molly was (with C Sands) a champion of the underdog, point-perfect student, 1989 BHS valedictorian, award winning poet , winner of the Montana 800M race, 2018. And at Carleton College, still point-perfect, a student of cardinal song, and an English major/biology minor.

Postgraduate Molly pursued scientific research with the same rigor and curiosity that characterized her earlier years. She studied micro-biochemical techniques in the Sands lab (MSU, Montana). She applied these, with micro-surgical techniques, to determine the progression of nucleic acid/protein synthesis activity during development in the mouse lung and its stem cells in the Hogan lab (Vanderbilt, PhD). And then as a postdoc in the Krasnow lab (Stanford University), she applied genetic surgeries to do parallel investigation of development in the fruit fly respiratory system. In this work she made the stunning discovery that specialized cells can revert to a multipotent state. Distinguished publications in the foremost science journals include Arch C&DB 1999, Nature 1999, 2000, 2003, and Science 2003.

Molly married James Nichols, a nationally known computer art teacher in Salinas, CA where they cultivated their son Liam. Molly's close relationship with Liam included support of his scholarly, creative and athletic pursuits as well as weekend recreation. She did community service and was seriously artistic/environmental/political.

PREDECESSORS Molly's exemplary life had roots, a genealogy important to her. On her mother's side great grandmother C Francis Bruce (directly descended from the Scottish chief and author of classic 'Being Born'), grandfather Bruce Strain (U Minn mile runner, ranking P&G chemical engineer and holder of the original Tide patent), and her mother (distinguished teacher, school board member, soccer coach and founder of the Emerson cultural center).

On her father's side (Ecology professor Ret., MSU), whose studies of plant community development inspired Molly's parallel study of organismal development.

His mother's progenitors crossed the Delaware with Washington 1776, built clipper ships (~1850), survived and died in the Civil war, experienced the Blackhawk Indian wars (1832), participated in underground railroad (1780's), served as Iowa attorney general (M Remley 1895-1901), championed woman's rights (~1900, JDR ) and Indian rights (1930s, JRL). His father's progenitors included a signatory of the West Virginia succession papers and pillar of methodism (~1820, DBD) and founder of the Dorsey/Weaver grandson clan of Wichita, KS (JGD).

SURVIVORS include son Liam W Nichols, husband James Nichols, father Tad Weaver, sibs of Tad (Dan, and Jane of Wichita, KS) and 14 nieces/nephews of Tad. Californian brothers of her mother (MIS), David (lawyer ret) and Steven Strain (HHS, Hulett-Packard) and their (4) children. She was preceded in death by her mother Martha IS Weaver, her grandparents, her uncle John Strain, and Tad's sibs, brother, John T Weaver, James L Weaver and sister Connie Weaver.

FOOTNOTES on Molly, her pictures, her progenitors, and her survivors are found at www.dahlcares.com; where you may also leave memories and condolences for her family.

A service will be held at 3:00 PM on Sunday, September 27th, at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 2118 S. 3rd Ave, Bozeman. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity that represents Molly's interests.

POEMS

GRANDFATHER, by Molly Weaver

He runs proudly

I see a reflection of myself

in an arched neck

a strong stride stretching across the generations.

Through a twisted strand of genes

I received

his build.

Through a twisted string of letters

I received

his picture.

He runs proudly.

He runs proudly

in my picture.

Before me now

his veins beat blue ropes

across his hands and the

sanitary white sheets.

The filed fingernails clutch

wearily

at his lift threads.

My mother’s eyes grope at mine, tearing me away.

I sent him a poem, but he doesn’t know my name

But in my picture

He runs proudly.

PRIMARY PUBLICATIONS (four papers, 1 review)

Weaver, M., Yingling, J. M., Dunn, N. R., Bellusci, S., & Hogan, B. L. M.

Bmp signaling regulates proximal-distal differentiation of endoderm in mouse lung development.

Development. 1999 Sep 15;126(18):4005–4015.

https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.126.18.4005

Weaver, M., Dunn, N. R., & Hogan, B. L. M.

Bmp4 and Fgf10 play opposing roles during lung bud morphogenesis.

Development. 2000 Jun 15;127(12):2695–2704.

https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.127.12.2695

Weaver, M., Batts, L., & Hogan, B. L. M.

Tissue interactions pattern the mesenchyme of the embryonic mouse lung.

Developmental Biology. 2003 Jun 1;258(1):169–184.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-1606(03)00117-9

Weaver, M., & Krasnow, M. A.

Dual origin of tissue-specific progenitor cells in Drosophila tracheal remodeling.

Science. 2008 Sep 12;321(5895):1496–1499.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1158712

Hogan, Brigid L. M., Weaver, Molly, & others.

Msudsrvivorsorphogenesis of the mammalian lung.

Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology. 1999;15:263–296.

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.cellbio.15.1.263

Record of Molly Weaver, 2026

Contents Obituaries Footnotes (to be added) Scientific papers Poems (to be added) Pictures OBITUARIES Tad Weaver Claire Sands Baker Krasnow Lab ( cite)

FOOTNOTES (to be added eg names of family cited)

Lovell genealogy (cite)

M Remely Atty general of Iowa, fatheri-in-law of Atty general, brother of dying in the civil war (cite)

Jane Dennis Remely (JDR) Wife of M Remely favoring education for women. Josephine?

Jessee Remely Lovell (JRL) Wife of Walter D Lovell favoring indian rights

Dennis Basile Dorsey (DBD) Signed W Virginia succession, survived civil war, MD, circuit rider, Methodist law (cite )

Jacob Gray Dorsey (JGD) Zane Gray?, eye.ear. nose. throat

EXTENDED SURVIVORS Cousins homes and number of children