James F. Whiting Sr.

James Franklin Whiting Sr. passed away quietly in his sleep on Sunday February 6. He graced his family and friends with his love, wit, charm and inspiration for 85 years. Jim was born in Virginia, Minnesota on June 15, 1925 and was raised there with his two sisters and brother. At the age of 17 he joined the Army Air Corp, trained with the 391st bomb group in Texas as a B-26 Bombardier / Navigator before going to Europe, like so many others of that great generation, to do what had to be done.

Jim came back from Europe to northern Virginia where he became the Resident manager of the YMCA in downtown Washington while also attending business school at American University. He left the "Y" to become a partner at Condon-Reed Refrigeration.

In 1968 he moved his family to Raleigh where he opened his own contracting company, Air Comfort, Inc. Ever the creative tinkerer, his contracting company was the first solar heating products manufacturer in North Carolina. This also led to his creation of the Apollo Hydroheat home heating system which sold nationwide for many years.

His greatest passion, other than golf, was watching his family and friends enjoy the cabin which he built in 1965 on Lake Gaston.

Jim is survived by his devoted wife Mary of 61 years, daughter Holly McGee, son Jim Jr. and his wife Suzanne Plower, his grandsons Jonathan (wife Angela Alston) and Jeffrey McGee.

Jim is the guiding light to his family and will be greatly missed.

In lieu of flowers, contributions might be made to: Salvation Army (www.salvationarmy.org) or The American Heart Association (https://donate.americanheart.org/)

A memorial visitation will be held at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home on Millbrook Rd. from 4 -6 pm Thursday, Feb 10, 2011.

Condolences may be sent to www.brownwynne.com