Philip D. Weiser and the Office of Special Grants

Photo: Philip D. Weiser and Wilma E. (Smith) Weiser

​Philip D. Weiser and the Office of Special Grants

Philip Weiser was a special man. He taught me everything I know about politics….which is considerable. He was a storyteller and an iconoclast. 

In 1977, I got a job with the State of Ohio. Like all mothers, it was hard for me to go back to work because I had three teenage daughters and a four-year-old at home. 

Initially I worked for the Office of Manpower Development as a planner. I got the job because I could write and actually understand Federal Regulations….which nobody on earth can understand because they are written by many people and often contradictory.

I worked there for three years before Phil Weiser saw me shopping at Eastland Mall. I was returning skates that my girls had received for Christmas. Phil was people watching while his wife shopped at Lazarus. He said I looked like a mother duck with my daughters all following along behind.

Anyway, he was a people person and later asked me if I would come to work for him in the Office of Special Grants (as second in command). I decided to take him up on the offer. It was a fun ride in more ways
​than one.

We had board meetings in the conference room once a month and sometimes when they were over, the dining room was closed. There were no food vendors nearby. Phil and one of my co-workers, Don Kauffman, would jump in Phil’s car and go to lunch. I was left out in the cold with no lunch.

Phil had an old Chevy that he drove from Heath/Newark, Ohio every day. He never washed it and let the dirt accumulate on the back license plate. The numbers couldn’t even be seen and that was purposeful.

Anyway, I got tired of these guys ignoring me so after a board meeting one morning, I decided to remedy this situation. I went out to my boss’s car and said, “I have decided to go to lunch with you guys today.” I got in the back seat before they could get in the front seat. It was a huge mistake! When I sat down I realized that I had dirt from the back seat all over the back my white blouse and navy skirt. As we drove off, the two men started laughing. Phil said, “I drive my car on weekends with the windows down and my dog is the only one that rides in the back seat”.

We arrived at Wendy’s for lunch. When we got out of the car, the two men started to brush me off so we wouldn’t be embarrassed when they realized they couldn’t do that and besides people were looking at us. 

We had a very dusty lunch. I never did that again. I’m sure that Phil Weiser told that story over and over and is in heaven still laughing about it today.

P.S. – The stories of Phil and Don don't end here. To read more, visit their Find a Grave pages below:
Philip Dean Weiser
Donald Stanford Kauffman
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©Marilyn Francis Ferguson 2025
Graphics by Michele Ferguson Schuck
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