Donald Keith Whaley

Keith was born on July 9th, 1930, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Donald Whaley and Ethel Spengler, and has one sister, Carolyn. Keith was a dearly loved husband, father, grandfather, brother, and cherished friend to many. His warmth, wit and dry sense of humor will be deeply missed.

Keith graduated from Mentor High School in 1949 and joined the U.S. Navy immediately thereafter, and was assigned to the U.S. Naval Training Center, Company 158, Great Lakes, Il, training in General Medicine. They were known as the “keels,” because the keel is the first part of the ship to be constructed. Keith served throughout the Korean conflict at the US Naval Hospital, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a physician’s assistant (Hospital Corpsman Second Class), until honorably discharged in 1953 when the armistice was signed.

In 1955, he and Shirley Lynn (deceased) were married and had 3 children, Mark (deceased), Lori, and Michael (deceased). In 1963 he and Janice Chamberlain were married and had 1 daughter, Anne. About this time, he was beginning his aerospace and defense career as a mechanical engineer. His work at Aerojet in N. California included designing pressure vessels for rockets. It was the beginning of the Space Age. He joined Hughes Aircraft in the 1970s as a Radar antenna design engineer, and retired from the company in the 1990s. In 1986 he married Geraldine “Gerri” Liscinsky, and helped raise his stepson, Craig.

In addition to his engineering design work, he also was a licensed gunsmith for over 30 years. Keith could fix just about anything, but he especially loved working on repairing firearms. After he retired from Hughes, he started his own business doing just that until losing his central vision to macular degeneration. He persevered through it all.

His favorite travel spots were Maui, Hawaii and London, England. He never met a pub he didn’t like, especially, Ye Olde King’s Head, in Santa Monica, CA. He did love his Guinness. And he never passed up a glass of fine red wine, either.

Keith is survived by his wife Gerri, daughters Lori and Anne, stepson, Craig, his sister, Carolyn, 11 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. A special shout out to his two granddaughters Lea and Kate, who lived nearest to him, relatively speaking. He was able to watch them grow up from the time they were babies.

Keith had a big heart and great character. When asked what he thought was his greatest accomplishment, he said “Becoming a mechanical engineer without completing college.” He was one of a kind and the last of a breed.

We also gratefully thank his caregiver, Lina Martinez, for all her help and support, and our neighbors, Dieter Swanke and family, for their assistance as well.