Josiah H. Whitaker passed away October 8th 2010 at the age of 81. He was born in Auburn, MA, Aug 7th, 1929. Beloved husband for more than 58 years to Barbara (Ladish) Whitaker, loving father of Linda Cluff and her husband, Roger of Kingston, Keith Whitaker and his wife, Deborah, of Kingston, Glenn Whitaker of Ulysses, Kansas, Bruce Whitaker and his wife, Patty of Loveland, Colorado, Donna Banzi and her husband, Donald, of Plymouth. He was a devoted grandfather of Pamela, Brian, Peter, Carrie, Kelsey, Abigail, Amanda, Jonathan, Matthew, Kailee, Luke, Courtney, Donnie, and Megan. He was also a devoted Great Grandfather of Landon, Wren, Mia and Elyn. He also leaves a sister, Ester Moore of Holden, and survived by many nieces and nephews.
A graduate of Auburn High, Joe attended Syracuse University and Worcester Jr. College where he received a degree in mechanical engineering. He worked at Worcester Automatic Machine Company, also at Norton Company and Howard Glass Company. He then worked for Procter & Gamble Co. in Quincy for 13 years.
After retiring from Proctor & Gamble Joe bought and sold many businesses under the construction name “Home-Aid” which included a campground in Booth Bay Harbor, ME, a package store, gas station and market. He also owned four bowling centers the last being Alley Kat Lane which he built in Kingston in 1984 and the Kingston Ten Pin in 1987 before retiring.
Joe loved, the Red Sox, and enjoyed boating and flying small planes. He also loved playing cribbage and living in Florida during the winter months. Joe was also a member of the Phoenix Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Hanover, MA.
Visiting hours are at Shepherds Funeral Home, 216 Main Street (RTE 106) Kingston on Tuesday October 12th from 4pm – 8pm. A service will be held at Shepherds at 10am on Wednesday. Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery, Kingston, MA.
In Lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to the Alzheimer’s Assoc., 311 Arsenal St. Watertown, MA 02140-1102. 800-272-3900, www.alzmass.org.