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Craig M posted a condolence
Thursday, December 5, 2019
You will be missed! Thanks for all you have done for our county and for helping to save my life. See you at the great meeting in the sky!!
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Barbara Whalen Penza posted a condolence
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
On December 2, 2019, U.S. Army Col. (Ret.) Richard J. (Dick) Whalen passed away at age 95 in Sun City Center, FL. Dick was born in 1924, on the family farm, in Pearl Creek, NY to Francis Whalen and Verna Reumann Whalen.
Dick married Mary Jeanne Collins (deceased); together they had eight children. Dick is survived by: Mary (Mitch) Towe, Ginny (Ron Sobieck) Price, Mary Jo (Jim) Petrelli, Patti Hope, Kay (Tim) Rutherford, Barb (Tony) Whalen Penza, Mike Whalen and fourteen grandchildren; Jimmy (Tressa) Bell, Rob (Nicole) Bell, Troy (Ursula) Price, Kelly (Scott) Saling, Adam Price, Gary (Jessica) Bird, Christopher (Ashley) Bird, Carmen (Josh) Neal, Nicholas Hope, Kevin Hope, Harrison Hope, Monique (Zach) VanderLaan, Eric Whalen, Joslyn Whalen and nine great grandchildren.
Son, Rick Whalen and son-in-law, Charlie Post preceded him in death.
Dick was the oldest of three; survived by his sister, Caroline (Bob) Duncan; he was preceded in death by his sister Jann (Dowayne) Parks.
As a young man, Dick moved to Shepherd, Michigan in 10th grade. In 2015, his nephew by marriage, Bob Lau, contacted the Detroit Tigers to arrange for Dick to throw out the first-pitch, in Lakeland, FL, at Spring Training for his favorite baseball team. Dick wore a Shepherd High School jersey and using a natural pitching motion, threw the pitch right down the middle.
Between 11th and 12th grades he went to Rexton,MI, in the UP, to work in the CCC. He always laughed telling that story; he was a good typist and could do correspondence for others while there, instead of back breaking work. An over-exuberant employee, noticed how young he looked and found out he was only 16, too young to work there. She sent him home, he didn’t get paid and he had to find a way to get to the lower peninsula without any money.
After Dick graduated from high school, he went back to NY State and worked at Bell Aircraft in
Buffalo and then to Niagara Falls. He then went back to Michigan, entered the Army, and did his basic training at Camp Barkley in Abilene, TX. He was sent to England in November 1943 aboard the RMS Aquitania, he was 8 flights below while the ship was being followed by a submarine. They all hung on for life, while hearing the sounds of the bombings all night, before landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944. Dick described running and zigzagging across Omaha Beach, carrying gasoline cans, dodging enemy fire. Dick was later in the Battle of Bulge and also helped liberate Dachau Concentration Camp.
Dick often described his part of the war as "We are why we aren’t speaking German here". He also stated he joined because "I was doing my part in keeping the world safe and not having an occupying army in this country".
Dick was very active in AA with 62 years of sobriety, inspiring many and making life long friends. He took the discipline he’d learned in the Army and was an avid walker and exercised even to the end. He enjoyed the friendships of his Michigan veterans, and was the last to survive. He participated each year in the St. Patrick Day Parade, proudly carrying the American Flag the entire route in Washington DC. Dick also traveled each December to the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge reunion in Washington DC. Dick partipated almost every year. In 2016, he had the honor of laying the Wreath on the Tombs of the Unknown, at Arlington National Cemetery. He enjoyed living at Freedom Plaza and in Apollo Beach. While there he worked, as a bagger, well into his late 80's at Publix. Retire young, retire often, was his motto. Dick graduated from Metropolitan State College in Denver Colorado after retiring from Ft. Carson, CO in 1979 after 35 years in the Army, at age 53. Dick was then a “shop” teacher for Jefferson County Schools in Littleton, Colorado.
Services will be held at a date, to be determined, with internment at Arlington National Cemetery.
Dick was a kind, giving, generous man. He helped anyone in need, as he had been a poor, depression era child, who sold his mother’s baked goods, in high school, with the soles of his feet painted black with shoe polish, in Michigan, so no one would know he didn’t have soles on his shoes. I’m sure many of you have been a recipient of Dick’s generosity and the family asks that you make a donation, in his name, to your favorite charity or cause.
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The family of Richard Whalen uploaded a photo
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
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