CURRENT CELEBRATIONS

William Whitaker

William (Bill) Joseph Whitaker was born on May 20, 1934 in a sharecroppers house on Wolfert Station Rd Clarksville, New Jersey. Born to Florence (Shaw) and William H. Whitaker. Grandpop Whitaker farmed the John Wolferth Farm for shares until hard times led him to sell his implements and move his family to Park Ave , Swedesboro. This farm origin rooted deeply in young Bill’s blood creating a lifelong affection for farm environs. Bill grew up in town through the latter stages of the great depression, WWII and Korean Conflict, with rationed commodities and a growing list of gold star families in town. He graduated from Swedesboro High School June 1953 with an Agricultural Designation. Bill learned of an opportunity for adventure and signed with maritime services on commercial tankers transporting oil from Texas to refineries in the Philadelphia area. Staying connected with friends in Swedesboro brought Bill an opportunity to come home and join New Jersey Bell Telephone climbing poles and connecting telephones. A phone company Christmas dance necessitated dance lessons leading him to meet the love of his life Maggie Everline who agreed to teach him how to dance. And dance they did for 67 years They were married on March 17, 1956 and left their Woodbury apartment in Feb 1957 for Fort Bragg, N.C. where Bill served in the U.S.Army, subsequent to Basic Training at Fort Dix, NJ . Bill was a specialist radio operator in the 168th Signal Company, 3rd Army Missile Command, in Fort Bragg, NC. His training in radio communications were a good fit as he grew his career with New Jersey Bell Telephone Company (now Verizon). Bill worked his way up through the company, as a craftsman, supervisor and ultimately manager. He would spend nearly 40 years with “Ma Bell”. Bill and Maggie built their first home on Sherwin Road in Harrison Township. Bill turned their modest property into a sanctuary, nurturing gardens of perennials, flowering azaleas and rhododendrons interspersed with tunnels and manholes dug by rambunctious boys they lovingly raised. Bill was active in Richwood Church Men’s Class, (participation in which was a prerequisite for…) a fast pitch softball player in the Methodist Church league and eventually Sunday School Superintendent . Bill loved raising beagles and training hunting dogs for rabbit hunting season. He and his sons enjoyed many fall Saturdays with the Heiligs, Neales and Reuters “running rabbits”. He was a member of the Louis Reuter Deer Club in Woodbine and deer hunted annually with the same group of Richwood friends. In fairer weather, he engaged his sea legs fishing with the whole family in Sea Isle City or the Delaware Bay. Bill gave back to his community through civic service. He was a member of the Pitman Jaycees leading many fundraising efforts and served on the Clearview Regional School District Board Education, as President from 1978-1980. He and Maggie were always in the stands at sporting events supporting Bill Jr and Tom, under any and all conditions. An opportunity to retire from New Jersey Bell came in 1991. Bill and Maggie sold the place on Sherwin Road and moved to a smoky mountain property in western North Carolina. There they shared an adventure of building a house on the side of their mountain positioned beautifully above the morning smokey mists for which the region takes its name. They enjoyed 6 years on their North Carolina farm before settling in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia until 2018. Recent years found Bill and beloved wife Maggie in an assisted living community in Seaford, Delaware. Declining health took Marguerite from us in January 2024. Though suffering from Parkinson’s Diseaseand dementia, Bill stayed engaged these last few months with staff and family in the time since losing Maggie. With his children by his side, Bill joined Maggie on Friday January 3, 2025. Bill was 90 years old.

William Joseph Whitaker is preceded in death by his wife Marguerite and sister Lydie May Nelson, parents Florence and William H. Whitaker. And is survived by her sons, William Whitaker Jr (Kathy) of Delaware, Thomas Whitaker (Drury) of Virginia and grandchildren, Mary Kay Baldwin, William Whitaker III, Emily Willey, Colin Whitaker, and Mason Whitaker. Bill also had the joy of 9 great grandchildren.

Friends and family will be received at RIchwood Methodist Church, 104 Richwood Road, Richwood NJ starting at 10AM on Thursday January 9. There will be a service at 11 a.m. Interment will follow at Lake Park Cemetery 701 Park Ave, Swedesboro, NJ.