Timothy Weiner remembered

Marcia and Pierre Fenster planned to spend Sunday afternoon preparing their house for repairs.

A neighbor offered to come over at 3 p.m. to help the Lauderhill couple move furniture and do other heavy-lifting jobs.

But the knock on the door came two hours early.

Marcia Fenster thought it would be children selling candy or church recruiters.

Then she saw her husband standing in the doorway with tears running down his face. Beside him were two uniformed U.S. Air Force officers.

"I passed out because I knew," she said. "It's the worst fear you have as the mother of a soldier."

Marcia Fenster's youngest child, Tech Sgt. Timothy Weiner, 35, was killed Sunday when a car bomb exploded in Baghdad.

Two other airmen, also assigned to the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, were killed in the same attack.

Weiner, an explosives expert who left last summer for his second tour of duty in Iraq, was expected to return home to Utah in two weeks to be reunited with his wife and 15-year-old son.

Now, his family is left with only memories.

Marcia Fenster, who raised her five children on her own, spent much of today reminiscing about Weiner's life.

Sitting on the front porch of the Lauderhill home Weiner grew up in, she broke down in tears at each mention of her son's name.

Her husband, Weiner's stepfather, also cried as he sat beside his wife and held her hand.

"I have an incredible amount of pride for what he did," Marcia Fenster said. "But the pain is unbelievable."

The grief adds to the family's struggles over the past year.

The Fensters have spent months trying to find a contractor who can repair their home, which was damaged by Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and a subsequent flood caused by a broken water pipe.

For months, they have been living out of boxes.

Renovations, which were supposed to begin Monday, were put on hold by news of Weiner's death.

"We are living under such horrible circumstances," Marcia Fenster said. "This has been so difficult for us. Now, another tragedy has occurred."

Since childhood, Weiner dreamed of a life in the military, his family said.

He often made model airplanes and talked about joining the Air Force.

That day came soon after he graduated from Piper High in Sunrise.

Weiner enlisted at 18, following in the footsteps of his three older brothers who also had careers in the armed forces -- two in the Army, one in the Coast Guard. They are now retired.

Weiner's mother tried persuading her youngest to enroll in college instead, but, she said, he had his mind made up.

"I have lived the last 20 years of my life afraid of seeing the news," she said. 'When you hear someone died, you think, `That could be my son.' Then you think, 'Dear God, don't let it be my son.' Then you think, 'It's somebody's son.'"

The last time Marcia Fenster spoke with Weiner was a few weeks ago, the day before Saddam Hussein was hanged.

"He was hoping they wouldn't kill Saddam until after he came home," she said. "He feared there would be an escalation in terrorism."

Weiner was looking forward to returning to the United States so he could be with his family.

He hoped to retire in two years and settle down in Colorado, where two of his brothers live, his mother said.

Weiner's wife, Debbie, was his first -- and only -- love, family said.

The couple began dating when Weiner was in high school and they worked together at Albertsons supermarket.

Together, they had a son, Johnathan -- Weiner's pride and joy.

"He would kiss his son good night every night," Marcia Fenster said. "I don't know that I've ever seen a closer bond between a father and a son."

Though heartbroken, Weiner's family can't help but feel proud of his service.

To them, he'll always be a hero.

"He was doing what he wanted to do," his brother Eric Weiner said. "It's a sad thing, but that's the nature of combat."

From the Herald

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