Connection. That is probably the best word to describe Jessica Wever’s outlook on life. Having moved to the community in 2016, the Star City, Ark. native considers Yazoo her home. And through her family, her work and her church…connection sums up the love Wever has for the people and places around her.
“I can’t imagine myself living in a town and not being a part of that town,” Wever said. “When you work out of town, you are disconnected. With all the positions I have had here, they all have given me the opportunity to be a part of the Yazoo community.”
Wever joins the business family of Williams, Clark and Morrison Inc. as the office manager, following the retirement of longtime employee Dot Oliver. But before joining the local engineering firm, she worked with the Bank of Yazoo and First Baptist Church.
But before she joined Yazoo’s workforce, Wever was just a part of the “little bitty town” of Star City, Ark. Graduating from Star High School in 2010, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
And it was there that she met Kyle Wever.
“He moved back home to Yazoo in 2015, and we did the long-distance thing for about a year,” Wever said. “We didn’t like that very much so in 2016, I moved here. And we were married in 2017.”
Even Kyle’s marriage proposal involved the community. Serving on the coaching staff of Manchester Academy, he found a unique way to incorporate the school with his soon-to-be bride.
“Kyle proposed to me on the 50-yard line at a MA Homecoming,” Wever said. “Then we later did both of our boys’ gender reveals during the runouts at MA football games. It’s just all the fun things that this community has been a part of in our story and time here.”
When Wever first arrived in Yazoo City, she worked at BYC, starting out as a bank teller. She later became a customer service representative, also serving on the bank’s social medical team. She had been a part of the banking family for about two years when Clint Ritchie, the former pastor of First Baptist Church, where the Wevers attended, approached her with an offer.
Wever then joined FBC as the office manager. Her role within the church position covered several departments from scheduling to the membership database to social media to website development and even bookkeeping.
As a young mother, the position at FBC was perfect for Wever with her young children being able to accompany her at work from time to time. But then God stepped in.
“It is really cool seeing God’s hand in all of it,” she said. “I wasn’t looking for another job, and the church had always been super flexible with me with my young babies. But, one weel, the Lord gave me a peace of ‘it’s time for something else.’”
When Dot Oliver announced her retirement at Williams, Clark and Morrison, it wasn’t long before Wever received a phone call.
“Timing is wild with how it all worked out too,” Wever said. “When the Lord gave me that peace, the next day I got five phone calls. I hadn’t told anybody I was considering something else.”
But the offer at Williams, Clark and Morrison was too good to pass for Wever. As office manager, she handles the bookkeeping, the website, contractual projects and other financial areas.
Even starting her new role at the engineering firm involved some help from God.
“Our son Cooper had to get his tonsils taken out, and moving his surgery date with starting work here lined all perfectly,” she said. “And the church voted as a farewell gift to give me an extra paycheck so I didn’t have to stress about a week with no pay. It’s just God.”
Wever admits Yazoo City is larger than her hometown. But it is the tight-knit community atmosphere that reminds her of home.
“Community is so important to me,” Wever said. “Even in scripture, it says that we were created for community.”
She and Kyle have two sons, Dax, 5, and Cooper, 3. Along with active roles within the community and church, the Wevers can often be found at Manchester Academy sporting events.
But regardless of what hat Wever is wearing, from being a wife and mother to a church servant to a professional to a sport fan, she is connected by one thing…love.
