Remembering Richard S. Weeks

Following his passing, Richard S. Weeks is being remembered for the people-first leadership that shaped his career and the company he helped lead. When Weeks Marine marked its first century in business, Rich, chief executive officer at the time, used the moment to turn attention to the people who made its milestones possible.

“We are reminded of the contributions that our employees, our suppliers and all the stakeholders of Weeks Marine have made to making Weeks what it is today,” he said.

Rich’s emphasis on people defined a career that began in 1970, when he joined the family business as an intern, and continued after Harvard Business School, when he returned full time. He represented the fourth generation of the Weeks family to help lead the company, which traces its beginnings to his great-grandfather Francis Weeks and later to his grandfather and father, who expanded the company’s marine operations over the decades.

He spent his early years working alongside crews, learning the work firsthand. In one reflection captured in the company’s history book A Century of Excellence: The Story of Weeks Marine, Rich described his early days on a small tugboat moving scrap iron by barge.

“You’d have to bring in loaded barges and get rid of light barges, so over the course of a day, you’d handle more lines than most deck hands handle in a month,” he said. “I wanted to learn and they were willing to teach me.”

In 1999, Rich, a longtime member of the industry’s noted Moles and Beavers heavy construction organizations, was named president and chief executive officer. Under his leadership, Weeks Marine expanded beyond traditional dredging into marine and heavy civil construction, building the capabilities needed to take on larger and more technically demanding work. This included the 2011 strategic acquisition of McNally Construction, a leading tunneling and marine construction firm, which allowed Weeks Marine to strengthen core capabilities and further expand into Canada.

As noted in a Kieways article about Weeks Marine’s generational legacy, Rich played a key role in guiding the company’s transition to Kiewit, helping ensure his family’s vision of being a trusted solution provider could continue to grow.

Today, as Weeks Marine operates as part of Kiewit, many of the decisions and ways of working established during Rich’s tenure are still in place, continuing his legacy of excellence.