Mrs. Antoinette Weech (nee Ritchie) is the senior member and a “Precious Pearl” of St. Agnes Church, where she regularly worships on Sundays and during the week. She is still very active, reads without eye glasses, crochets and tends to her garden. Mrs. Weech has lived at her home on Hercules Street for the past sixty-there (63) years, ever since the day she got married in 1948.
She was born in Long Island on 12th June 1915, the second child of Leopold Arlington Ritchie and his wife the former Doris Vivienne Taylor. Antoinette’s older brother was Leopold and her sister was Pearl. Mrs. Weech was christened and confirmed in Long island. Her mother died when Antoinette was twelve years old. In 1933 her father allowed her to move to Whymms Bight, Eleuthera to live with his only sister, Virginia Eliza Adelaide and her husband, Henry Martin Gibson, who had no children. Mr. Gibson was a teacher. He died six months later and Antoinette and Mrs. Gibson moved to Savannah Sound. Mrs. Gibson was an accomplished tailor and Antoinette assisted her with the finish work and learnt how to make shirts. Her father later remarried and had eleven children with his second wife. Mrs. Weech became foster mother to her younger sister, the late Dr. Mary Ritchie, when she came to New Providence to attend the Government High School and later the University of The West Indies.
Mrs. Weech says that it was love at first sight for both of them in 1939 when she met her future husband, Leland Weech, when she was travelling the Air Pheasant mail boat from Eleuthera to Long Island and Leland was going to Inagua in connection with his job as a telegraphist at Bahamas Telecommunications. Leopold Ritchie was the engineer on Leland’s parents’ boat which was captained by the senior Mr. Weech and also used as a mail boat. Mrs. Weech says that when she told Leland who she was he was thrilled to meet his good friend Leopold’s sister. She later received a letter from Leland which confirmed their engagement that lasted for nine years because he was determined that he would not marry until he had a house into which to move his wife. Then in 1948 Antoinette received a first grade telegraph from Leland saying that he was coming home to her. Soon thereafter, on 29th July 1948, they were married by Fr. Henshaw, at St. Anne’s Anglican Church. Leland knew Fr. Henshaw from the time when he was stationed in Bimini and was an altar boy. After their marriage Leland and Antoinette joined St. Agnes Church.
Leland always wore shirts made by his wife. The well made shirts caught the eye of Mr. Saunders, the owner of the Nassau Shop who asked who made them and shortly thereafter Mrs. Weech became fully occupied at home making shirts for the store. After a number of years the demand for the shirts and other garments became so great that the owners of the Nassau Shop decided that they wanted to have the garments made by factory and they opened a sewing room in the store. However, Mrs. Weech declined the offer to work outside of her home. Subsequently, she was hired by G. R. Sweeting & Son to close out their shoe department at the corner of Bay and Charlotte Streets before moving to the new department store in Palmdale where she worked for eleven years before going home to take care of Mary’s children when she opened her private practice. Mrs. Weech also continued sewing for clients at home and helped the Salvation Army and hospital with sewing quilts, and other items.
When Leland and Antoinette moved into the neighbourhood, they were warmly welcomed by all. Mrs. Weech describes the Hercules Street and Mason’s Addition neighbourhood as a place where everyone was friendly – the Halls, Maycocks, Smalls, O’Briens, Godets, Johnsons and many others, who all lived in harmony and respected each other. Hercules Street is one of the very few Over-The-Hill where all of the homes are well kept and people continue to take pride in their surroundings.
Mr. Weech was employed at The Bahamas Telecommunications Company up to the time of his death on 24th September 1957 at the age of 42 years.