Obituary of Ted Whiting, Jr

Ted Whiting, Jr, the patriarch of the Whitings Foods Santa Cruz Boardwalk concessionaire family, passed away very peacefully at his Scotts Valley home on December 7, 2011, following a lengthy illness. Born in Santa Cruz, CA at the Sisters Hospital, he was 88 years old. He attended Holy Cross Grammar School, Chaminade Boys High School and Saint Mary's College. He was a local boy with deep local roots and an honored member of the "River Street Gang." He proudly served his country in the US Army in the European theater of WW2 as a staff sergeant in Infantry and the Military Police Corp. It was so fitting that he would die on the 70th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor. While on a short leave, he married his loving wife Esther in 1944 whom he met at Holy Cross High School and they were married in the Holy Cross Mission. Following his discharge, he earned his California Embalmer's Certificate from the San Francisco School of Mortuary Science and later worked in the funeral trade at White's Mortuary in downtown Santa Cruz. He faithfully renewed his embalmer's certificate to his last day. He was a member of the Santa Cruz Police Reserve unit during the 1950's. An opportunity to acquire a seasonal concession stand on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk in 1953 has grown into the Whiting's Foods boardwalk business, a leading provider of fast and fun foods, which has, for nearly 60 years, also provided jobs and career starts for thousands of young people in Santa Cruz County. Ted enjoyed his stature as the last of his generation of Boardwalk concessionaire personalities and relished in the success of the business he started as three succeeding generations of his family worked and engaged in its management and expansion. To his last days his constant question at seeing his family members would always be "How's business at the walk?" His family credits him for teaching them the value of hard work and taking care of your employees. Ted enjoyed his love of fishing, for Salmon in our own coast, for the "big ones" in Cabo San Lucas and along many trout streams in Northern California, particularly in the vicinity of Groveland, CA, where he built a vacation cabin that is enjoyed by his family to this day. Fish always seemed to swim to his hook! In his retirement years, his love for travel took him back to retrace his wartime journey through Europe and to many locales in the United States. He especially loved his West and East Coast cruise excursions. He enjoyed initiating contact with some long lost wartime buddies after many years of separation and renewing acquaintances with them. His family will always carry fond memories of learning to hunt, fish and the thrill of motor boating in the ocean and lakes. Ted's brother Jon Whiting of Tacoma, WA preceeds him in death He is survived by his sister Mary Alice Stephenson of Paso Robles, CA. Ted was preceded in death in 1991 by his wife Esther, to whom he credited the success of raising such a big family. Ted's largest legacy is the family he leaves behind. He is survived by his eight children Ted Whiting III (wife Jane), Ron Whiting (wife Serena) , Sybil Anderson-Adams (husband Phil), Peter Whiting (wife Jackie) ,Mike Whiting (wife Beth), Ken Whiting(wife Renee), David Whiting(wife Michelle) and Margie Sisk (husband Jon). He has 26 grandchildren (Lisa Holiday-Schaffer, Lori Pacino, Steffan Whiting, Nik Whiting, Dan Whiting, Jeff Whiting, Anthony Whiting, Katherine Whiting, Matt Anderson, Dave Anderson, Jim Anderson, Ashley Adams, Mark Adams, Bryan Adams, Aaron Whiting, Christy Wohlert, Allison Vaughan, Kendyll McManigal, Jamie Wassell, Jennifer Whiting, Megan Igno, David Whiting, Riley Sisk, Makenzie Sisk, and Addy Sisk. He also leaves behind 20 great-grandchildren and that number continues to grow! He will be deeply missed by Peggy Schnack, his daily companion of 20 years, who lived, traveled and enjoyed life with him and cared for him during his last years of illness. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Holy Cross Church, 126 High St, Santa Cruz, CA on Friday, December 16th, 10:00am. Burial will follow on Saturday, December 17th, 10am at Holy Cross Cemetery where he will be laid to rest along side his beloved wife Esther. The family asks that any kind acts of charity be made in his memory to Holy Cross School or Church. Please visit www.pacificgardenschapel.com to sign the online guest book or express your condolences to Ted's family.