Harold Eugene Whiting

Harold Eugene Whiting, 87, of Houston passed away Saturday, January 4, 2014. Harold was born May 12, 1926 in Ross County, Ohio to Ross and Edna Whiting. He is preceded in death by his parents and sister, Roselyn Whiting Vincent. He is survived by his loving wife of 65 years Carol Whiting; children, Sandra Whiting, Marilyn Clark & husband Devin, Carolyn Smith & husband Frederick, Harold Eugene Whiting Jr. & wife Cindi; grandchildren, Jessica Kucher & husband Joseph, Ruth Kuryla & husband Jamie, Karl Smith, Joshua Whiting, Nicole Whiting; great grandchildren, Joey, Kylie, William, Olivia, Andrew, Cecilia, Robert; brothers, Ronald Whiting and Melvin Whiting as well as numerous nieces, nephews and other family and friends. Harold grew up and was educated in Ohio and Michigan. Shortly after high school he left his family to serve his country in World War II. One of his duties in the US Navy was decommissioning naval vessels when they returned from battle. He served for 2 years before honorably discharging and moving back to Michigan to attend college. Harold graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. It was during his college years that he met the love of his life, Carol Mizer. The two met in the Short order restaurant near Michigan State where Harold was a young short order cook and Carol was a nursing student. The couple married in 1948 and he started his career in electrical manufacturing. Harold was very active in the Methodist Church and served as a Lay Leader when living in Milwaukee. He was also a community leader as a member of the Zoning Board in St. Charles, Illinois. He was the Past President of the Electrical Engineers Society of Milwaukee. Over his 40 year career, Harold worked for such prestigious firms as Square D and Furnas Electric where he holds patents for his designs. In the early days of computer technology he was once published in PC Magazine for his innovative software programming. He was an engineer at heart, always designing and building. He once turned an old broken Vega into one of the first electric cars. Harold loved to play golf and square dance with his wife and friends. Mr. Whiting was a longtime member of the Eagle’s Trace Community where he was the president of the WII Bowling Club. Harold and Carol were members of Memorial Drive United Methodist Church in Houston where he was a member of the Bridge Builders Sunday School class. He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and friend to many. He was loved by all who knew him and will be greatly missed. A Memorial Service celebrating Harold’s life will be held Thursday, January 9, 2014 at 11:00 AM at Memorial Drive United Methodist Church, 12955 Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77079. A reception will follow the memorial service in Friendship Court. The following is the story of Harold’s life written by Mr. Whiting recently. The family hope’s you enjoy reading about his wonderful years here. Harold Whiting Life Story by Harold Whiting Born 1926 in Ross County, near Massiville, Ohio. Lived on a small farm near Chillicothe, Ohio until 16 years old. Moved to Battle Creek, Michigan in 1942 and graduated from high school there in 1944. Worked as fry cook and waiter in a hamburger shop during the school years and in a farm equipment factory during the summer. Entered Navy in 1944 after graduation and served two years as an electronic technician’s mate. Finished Navy Training School in 1945 as WW2 ended so spent the last nine months repairing and upgrading electronic equipment and preparing equipment for mothballing. Most of the ships that I worked on were later moved out to sea and sunk to form artificial reefs. Returned to civilian life in 1946 and started college under the G.I. bill at Michigan State College in East Lansing, Michigan. I worked part time in a hamburger shop in downtown Lansing near a major hospital and while working there met a lovely student nurse, Carol Mizer who in 1948 became my wife. Graduated in 1950 with an Electrical Engineering degree and without a job. Since this was the year the peak of returning Veterans graduated, jobs were a little more difficult to find. Immediately after graduation Carol and I decided to try our luck in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and I was fortunate enough to receive an offer from Square D Company to join their engineering staff. I started there in July, 1950 and spent the next 20 years with Square D working on design and development of industrial motor controls. I was also active in engineering society activities and was the Chairman of the Milwaukee section of the national Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. During the time in Milwaukee I also was very involved in church activities while a member of Brown Deer Community United Methodist Church, serving in many areas including Council Chairman and Lay Leader. I also served as District Lay Leader of the Milwaukee District UMC and was on conference committees during the merger between the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. In 1970 I left Square D Co. to join Furnas Electrical Co. in Batavia, ILL where for the next 21 years I served as engineering manager and senior consultant. I represented Furnas Electrical Co as their representative on several standards committees of the National Electrical Manufactures Association (NEMA). During this time Carol and I were members of Baker Memorial UMC in St. Charles, ILL where I was active in most church activities as Lay Leader and Council Chairman. In 1991 I retired from Furnas Electric although I worked as consultant in new product design and as their NEMA representative for two years after retiring. Carol and I then built a new home in a Lakeside community in Northern Illinois and spent the next 15 years with summers in Illinois and winters in Texas before moving permanently to Tomball, Texas in 2007. Over the years we managed to grow a fine family starting with twin daughters in 1951 and adding a boy in 1954 and another daughter in 1957. We were fortunately able to see all four complete four or more years of college with the twins having master degrees. Our youngest daughter lives in Houston and has never married which was our major reason for moving to Houston The rest have families with one daughter in Jacksonville, Florida, one daughter in Stoneham, Mass. and our son in Cary, Illinois. In 2009 we decided the sands of time were catching up with us so we decided to join the family at Eagle’s Trace where we hope to enjoy many more retirement years without a lot of other concerns and cares. We changed our church membership from Tomball UMC to Memorial Drive UMC in June, 2010 although we had been attending church here and Bridgebuilders class since August, 2009.

Harold Eugene Whiting

May 12, 1926 - January 4, 2014