Anyone who knew Karen Weatherman, local hardcore-scene matriarch and co-proprietor of Weatherman Jewelers, will appreciate the bitter irony of her cause of death: apathetic dementia. She had a sparkle and laughed a lot, in a way you’d find flattering if it were for something you said. And whether saving aluminum cans for a down-on-their-luck friend or chaperoning kids at punk shows, she always looked for ways to help others.
Local T-shirt magnate Bill Mooney remembers a Dead Kennedys show at The Pier in Cameron Village circa the early 1980s, when Karen and her husband, Toney, signed him in as their underage ward.
“I was about 16 and I remember thinking, ‘I need to make sure I don’t do anything that will get them in trouble,’” Mooney said. “She was like a punk-rock den mother to a lot of us.”
Karen had immeasurable local punk-rock cred, thanks to the fact that her son Woody played guitar in the pioneering hardcore band Corrosion of Conformity. The band’s first practice space was the basement of the Weatherman family home on St. Mary’s Street.
“And man, did they make the house shake,” she once told me. With a laugh, of course.
From literally underground beginnings, Corrosion of Conformity went on to a surprising amount of mainstream success in the 1990s, earning a Grammy nomination and even a gold-selling record. Karen and Toney thrived in the role of proud parents, beaming at the sight of Corrosion of Conformity opening stadium shows for Metallica.
Back home in Raleigh, Karen was the star behind the counter at Weatherman Jewelers, which opened in 1945 (four years before Cameron Village). The store passed to Toney and Karen after his father died in 1985. He handled watch and clock repair while she was the salesperson—“The Jewelry Elf” to multiple generations of gift-giving customers.
Before closing in 2007, the place was a combination jewelry store, antique shop, salon hangout, and family repository of both heavy metal and old-time musical artifacts, for Toney’s folk ensembles as well as for Corrosion of Conformity. The store’s eclectic clientele ranged from powerful politicians to local musicians, none of whom ever paid full price (in the interests of full disclosure, I note that my wedding ring came from there, bought at a deep discount from list price).
Karen could be an enthusiastic, even fierce advocate for those she loved. In 1984, she was arrested for slapping someone in a backstage altercation at a chaotic Corrosion of Conformity show at a Dorton Arena “Battle of the Bands.”
She also championed a wide range of progressive causes, throwing lavish annual holiday parties that served as fundraisers for organizations promoting legal recognition of same-sex marriage, food banks, and advocacy for the homeless.
“Karen was the greatest example of love in action I ever met, and her umbrella covered everyone she knew,” musician Joe Newberry says. “I used to love their parties because you’d see people from literally all over the world.”
Recent years were hard as Karen started to slip away. Her daughter Alison, a geriatric nurse, first suspected something was amiss two years ago when Karen stopped cooking and feeding people—“which was really her thing.”
Despite the hopelessness of her diagnosis, Toney did everything he could to keep Karen going during the two years she spent in hospice.
A steady stream of friends, family, and loved ones came to visit in the weeks leading up to her passing on the morning of Tuesday, April 29. One was Newberry, who regularly plays music for hospice patients.
“Some people in this world carry the light, and some are the light,” he said after her passing. “Karen was the light. I’m sad to have that go out of our lives, but it’s still there. It’s just up to us now.”
In addition to her husband, Karen is survived by her two children, four grandchildren, and one sister. There will be a Celebration of Life on Friday, May 2, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., at Unity of the Triangle Church, 5570 Munford Road in Raleigh.
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