Richard I. Whaley

May 13, 1933 – July 2, 2021

Richard (“Dick”) Whaley departed this world on Friday, July 2, 2021, surrounded by family. He celebrated his 88th birthday in May with many family members he had not seen in over a year due to the pandemic. The night before he left us, he was able to enjoy watching the San Francisco Giants baseball game, one of his favorite pastimes. We will miss him.

The youngest of three children born to William and Anna (nee McLellan) Whaley in San Francisco, he graduated from Saint Ignatius High School. He studied civil engineering at Stanford University with a two-year break to serve in the U.S. Army in Korea. Joan and Dick married at age 20 before he departed for his service. This required his mother to consent, as he was not considered old enough to marry by the State of California at the time. Joan and Dick celebrated their 68th anniversary in January.

Dick worked as a civil engineer in the private and public sectors for over fifty years. He had his own business for many years and was the consulting engineer for the City of Woodside. He worked as a utility inspector for the City of Palo Alto and retired from them. In retirement, he served on the Storm Drain Oversight Committee for Palo Alto. Most recently, he was an engineering consultant for the State of California. He was a longtime member of a number of professional organizations and received the Outstanding ASCE Life Member award from the ASCE San Francisco section in 2016.

Dick loved to work and worked into his seventies. While some of us thought he might be bored in retirement, he found plenty of things to do. He read the

Smithsonian magazine and lots of books, had a lifelong interest in trains, and loved watching football, baseball, and college basketball. He could finally spend whole days watching sports!

Joan and Dick lived in San Jose and Palo Alto, raising a family of six children. The annual family vacation was to Housekeeping Camp in Yosemite the week before Labor Day, with visits on the way to and from Yosemite in Merced to visit Joan’s cousin and children and Dick’s brother, wife, and their four children, resulting in a rambunctious passel of cousins. In later years, they enjoyed trips to New York, Guatemala and Hawaii. They took numerous weekend trips to closer locations, such as Fort Bragg, Mendocino and Solvang. They visited Dick’s sister in Oregon. Their favorite getaway for Joan’s birthday was Pismo Beach.

Dick was predeceased by his sister Elinor Lantz and brother Ed. In addition to his wife Joan, Dick is survived by five daughters: Justine (Bud) Hennessy, Alexis, Cara, Marianna, and Daryl (Frank) von Haunalter and one son, Garratt; along with ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.