Industry Journalist Barbara Weathers Dies

January 17, 2011  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Obituaries on January 18, 2011

Barbara Weathers, a longtime furniture industry journalist, died Jan. 14, in Greensboro, N.C., following a brief illness. She was 78.

Weathers was employed by the National Home Furnishings Association for nearly three decades. She joined the editorial staff of the association's magazine, NHFA Reports, in 1969 as feature editor. She was named editor shortly after the publication's name was changed to CompetitivEdge in 1977. In 1982 she won the Writer's Hall of Fame Award from the Southern Home Furnishings Center (now the International Home Furnishings Center).

Weathers was one of five NHFA staff who moved to High Point in 1988 when the Association relocated its headquarters there from its longtime Chicago home. In 1989 she was named vice president of communications, a title she held until her departure from the association several years later.
 
Her tenure at NHFA was followed by a successful decade in public relations with an emphasis in home furnishings. From 1997 through 1999, Weathers worked for JP Hogan & Company of Knoxville, Tenn., including serving as the company's public relations director throughout most of 1999. During that time she developed industry position statements on furniture flammability and helped teach corporate crisis communications, among other responsibilities. The crisis communications plan she helped create for the Polyurethane Foam Association remains in use today, according to PFA Executive Director Bob Luedeka.

NHFA sought Weathers' writing and editing skills once again in 2001 when she was asked to help pilot their magazine, by then called Home Furnishings Retailer, through a transition period. She spent the last decade of her life mentoring editorial talent, assisting NHFA with its communications, and writing about furnishings and trends. Her last cover story on color trends appeared in the January/February 2011 issue.

Weathers was a graduate of the University of Alabama. She began her journalism career as an assistant editor with the Birmingham News.

Weathers was a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Greensboro. She was a devoted volunteer for Higher Ground, a resource center operated by Triad Health Project for persons infected or in any way affected by HIV/AIDS. Among its key services is offering a hot, nutritious lunch three days a week, and Weathers was among volunteers who help prepare a meal once each month for the center.
   
Survivors include a stepson, Jim Magruder, his wife, Abby, and two step-grandchildren, John and Jennifer Magruder.

A memorial service is planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday at All Saints Episcopal Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Higher Ground, or call 336.274.5637; or to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.