 Jerry
Pippin pays
tribute to his
long-time friend
of 60-plus
years, Jerry
Wilhite.
Wilhite passed
away on Thursday
night (April 21,
2011). They met
as children in
Sunday School
in Church,
attended high
school together,
and stayed
involved in
several business
ventures, many
friendship
activities and
for the past
decade,
Wilhite's life
took many turns
but at one time
he was a very
successful
businessman
and always
looked for ways
to help out his
fellow man.
 MP3
Running time: 32
minutes, 17 seconds
-
 Windows
Media Version
(Bostonred
produced this
tribute by
Pippin to
Wilhite for his
blogtalk radio
series (CLICK
HERE).
They
sometimes argued
on the air like
cats and dogs
but Bostonred
and Wilhite were
similar in many
ways,
headstrong,
opinionated, and
at heart real
pussycats.)
|
Jerry Elmer
Wilhite
was
born June
25, 1940 in
Ada,
Oklahoma
but moved to
Muskogee
with his
parents
Homer and
Vera and one
sister,
Norma Jean,
at a very
early age.
He attended
public
schools in
Muskogee and
then later
classes at
Northeastern
State
University
in
Tahlequah,
Oklahoma. He
entered the
US Air Force
and spent
most of his
duty time in
a top secret
area of
Edwards Air
Force Base
in
California.
After
serving, he
returned to
Muskogee
briefly
where he was
a partner
with Jerry
Pippin,
his school
buddy in
several
enterprises
including a
restaurant
called the "Coachlight
Inn."
Most of his
adult life
he lived in
Southern
California
where he
worked in
the heavy
equipment
business,
working his
way to the
top of a
major dealer
franchise
and later
becoming a
partner in a
Crane sales
business
based in
Houston,
Texas.
Wilhite did
dome back to
Oklahoma
for a few
years in the
70s where he
worked as
general
sales
manager
for Doenges
Brothers
Ford and
Thomas
Cadillac but
his business
connections
in the
construction
industry
called him
back to
Southern
California
in the
middle 70s
where he
stayed until
his business
venture in Texas
in the late
90s.
He was a
writer and
an avid
reader,
sometimes
reading as
many as 7
books a
week. He put
this
experience
to work upon
his
retirement
from the
"crane"
business to
write a
daily column
for the
Internet. Interestingly
enough he
continued to
write even
though he
had bouts
with severe
illness for
the past
decade. He
moved to Puyallup,
Washington shortly
before his
death on
April 21,
2011.
Jerry had
two boys,
Scott and
Jerry, Jr.
by a former
marriage and
later
married
Helen
Mendoza.
They had two
children,
Jeff and
Julie.
As per his
wishes, he
did not have
a formal
funeral or
memorial
service and
his family
asked that
instead of
flowers a
donation in
Jerry's name
be given to
either The
American
Heart
Association
or
The
Diabetes
Foundation
of America.
Note from Jerry's wife Helen:
Hi Jerry,
We just wanted to thank you for the tribute and obituary you did for Jerry. We are getting through this very difficult time and it is still hard to believe. After all, we were together 40 years this past December. I know it must be difficult for you too, given the length and span of your friendship.
Please relay our gratitude to everyone for their kind words and actions. We are very thankful.
Respectfully,
Helen, Julie and Jeff
|
|
Jerry Pippin's written
tribute to Jerry
Wilhite:
Jerry
Wilhite's column pages:
