William Newell Whalen, 91 of Wood Village OR, passed away on Monday, March 8, 2021. He was born on January 26, 1930 in La Crosse, Kansas to James and Ethel Whalen and graduated from La Crosse High School. William married Janet Kathleen Snow on June 30, 1950 in Kelso, Washington and celebrated their 70th Anniversary just before she preceded him death on July 18, 2020.
William joined the Air Force right after high school and served for 21 years as an electronics technician. He worked at Gresham TV & Repair, taught electronics at ITT in Portland and was the head of maintenance for Montgomery Ward in the Beaverton and Clackamas stores, before owning and operating BJ’s Dip N Dunk in Clatskanie, Oregon from 1984 to 1996. William and Janet were charter members of Mountain View Christian Church. He enjoyed crossword and jigsaw puzzles and was an ice cream lover.
William is survived by his sons Steven Whalen of Vancouver WA, Gary Whalen of San Diego CA, Peter Whalen (Linda) of Delta BC Canada and Ken Whalen (Rabecca) of Wood Village OR; sister Ardith Tallman of Columbus OH; grandchildren Brandon Whalen, Nicole Jarneski, Eric Whalen, Shawn Whalen, Tyler Whalen, Micah Greenfield, Terra Pounds, Chris Perham and Ryan Andres and great grandchildren Leilani, Hokulani, LumiBear and Conner. William was also preceded in death by his grandsons Jesse and Dustin Whalen, two brothers and two sisters.
A Private Celebration due to Covid-19 restrictions of William’s Life will be held at 4:00pm on Friday, March 19, 2021 at Bateman Carroll Funeral Home, 520 W. Powell Blvd in Gresham, Oregon with Live-Streaming available on the funeral home Facebook page for those that cannot attend. Private interment will take place at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. Contributions can be made to The Salvation Army at satruck.org in lieu of flowers.
