Richard James Whaley
ROCKVILLE - Richard James Whaley, age 79, of Rockville, MD, died January 13, 2024, after a sudden diagnosis with metastatic pancreatic cancer. He was born October 30, 1944, in St. Louis, MO, son of the late Floyd and Cosma (Fortney) Whaley. A devoted and loving husband, father, poppy, brother, uncle, and great-uncle, he is now reunited with his wife of 51 years, Sharon Miller Whaley. Rich will be dearly missed by his children, U.S.N. Captain Scott Richard Whaley (Jenny) of Ottawa, Canada, Molly Whaley Smith (James) of Rockville, MD, and Kathryn Ann Whaley of West Orange, NJ; grandchildren Andrew Landis (Jackie Pastorino), Theodore Smith, and Braxton Whaley; sister-in-law Carol Warren, brother-in-law David (Joyce) Miller, and sister-in-law Flora Whaley; numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews and many friends. Rich is preceded in death by his wife, parents, mother-in-law Alma Miller, father-in-law David Miller, Grandma Terry Whaley, brother Ronald Whaley, brother-in-law William Warren and granddaughter Madison Smith.
As a child, Rich was taught the art of bookbinding and traveled with his family’s business. It was his first exposure to entrepreneurism along with often helping his future in-laws in their flower shop. He grew up in Columbus, OH and with the love of his life, graduated from Linden-mckinley High School in 1963. He studied Philosophy at Butler University, where he played football and was a brother in the Sigma Chi fraternity, before transferring to The Ohio State University. A resident of Upper Arlington, OH for 45 years, he was an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church on Capitol Square. Rich was a founding partner and Chairman to MAS Investment Group, a real estate development firm based in Columbus, Ohio. He was inspired and motivated by his career and the friendships he built through his 45+ years of practice. He developed or acquired real estate throughout most regions of the United States and was involved in a number of professional and civic associations, including Founding Trustee, Dahlberg Center; Founding Member, Ohio State Advocates; Former Director, Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition and Former Board Director National Housing and Rehabilitation Association, Board of Trustee – Nightingale Home Care Inc., member of NAIOP – National Association of Industrial and Office Properties Central Florida Chapter, member of FIABCI – The International Real Estate Federation.
In more recent years, Rich and Sharon retired to Rockville, MD where they were members and residents of Manor Country Club and Rich was frequently seen walking his beloved Labrador. Even in his senior years, promoting and preserving quality affordable housing and related services for low and moderate-income families continued to be of particular importance to Rich. As a Founding Trustee, he was passionately involved with the Atlantic Housing Foundation, a non-profit that has awarded over $17 million in academic and housing scholarships and provided thousands of dollars and hours of social services, in addition to building 46 communities. He enjoyed frequent vacations and was always happy reading a book on the deck of a cruise ship or from the hammocks of his Eastern Shore home he built with Sharon on Tilghman Island, MD. From his childhood onward, sports were an anchor in Rich’s life. Despite weekly business trips for most of his career, he rarely missed his children or grandchildren’s games/matches and he was a spirited fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Naval Academy Midshipmen, Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Bengals. The consummate family-man, Rich and Sharon thrived in hosting family and friends at their homes, where card and board games, grilling steaks, red wine, scotch and much laughter was at the center of it all. He loved a reason to put on a tuxedo and support worthy causes, especially if there was an auction, in which some favorite family memories were born including a vacation to a castle in Scotland. And always generous, Rich supported many causes, offered his time and knowledge to others and most of all, loved treating his family to wonderful vacations (some favorites including safari in Africa, annual ski trips to Park City, yachting thru the B.V.I’S, Turks & Caicos, annual Ohio State Bowl games, and frequent visits to Disney World). Rich’s humor, compassion, eternal optimism, insightfulness, and kindness towards others will be greatly missed by all.
A service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at Trinity Episcopal Church on Capitol Square, 125 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH. A Celebration of Life will follow immediately thereafter. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to:
Montgomery Hospice, an organization that affectionately cared for Rich, Sharon, and Madison.
https://montgomeryhospice.org/donate-now; please indicate in memory of Richard Whaley.
Pediatric Colorectal Cancer and Rare Tumor Research Fund in memory of Rich’s granddaughter,
Madison Smith, at: http://giving.childrensnational.org/goto/madisonsmith