Queer Places:
Salt Lake City Cemetery, 200 N St E, Salt Lake City, UT 84103, United States

Willard Erastus Weihe (October 17, 1856 - June 5, 1926) was born on October 17, 1856, in Christiania, Norway, the son of Andreas Weihe and Boletta Aas. He migrated to the United States and spent the majority of his life in Salt Lake City, Utah, residing there for nearly six decades. Professionally, Weihe established himself as a prominent and talented classical musician, working primarily as a professional violinist and music educator. Over the course of his career in Utah, he became an integral part of the local cultural and artistic landscape, teaching at institutions such as the Latter-day Saints School of Music, where he worked alongside other notable regional musicians and faculty members. Throughout his life, he was closely tied to the community, performing in various orchestral and ensemble settings, and he was married to Jean Cantner Weihe. He passed away in Salt Lake City on June 5, 1926, due to heart disease (mitral and aortic insufficiency), and was interred locally.

Regarding his historical links to LGBTQ+ history, Willard Weihe is documented in regional queer history archives—most notably through the research papers and collection of Mildred Berryman housed at UCLA Library Special Collections and the California Digital Library. Historical records and documentation concerning early twentieth-century alternative subcultures in Utah note that Weihe served as the president of the Bohemian Club. Founded in Salt Lake City in 1886, the Bohemian Club functioned as an early underground social and support network and social group for homosexual individuals during an era of strict social conformity. His leadership position within this covert community places him as a notable figure in the hidden or early institutional history of regional queer networks in the American West before his death in the mid-1920s.

References:

• Mildred Berryman Papers, 1937–1999 (Collection No. Coll2010.055), UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, and the California Digital Library (OAC finding aid), documenting early Salt Lake City alternative networks, the Bohemian Club, and research files concerning local figures including Willard Weihe.
• State of Utah Death Certificate for Willard Erastus Weihe (File No. 278, Registered No. 1362, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 8, 1926; signed by Dr. H.Z. Lund, M.D., recording biographical data, employment at the Latter-day Saints School of Music, and cause of death).
• Church History Biographical Database, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, entry and missionary/historical registers for Willard Erastus Weihe (detailing birth in Christiania, Norway, on October 17, 1856, and life timeline records).
• The Mildred Berryman Institute for LGBTIQ+ Utah History and historical overviews maintained via the Utah State Archives (Women in the LGBTQIA+ Community: Stories of Utah Women), documenting regional queer history, the history of the Salt Lake City Bohemian Club founded in 1886, and its early members.

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