William Whitney

Major William E. Whitney, Jr. Retired USAF of Gulfport passed away on Tuesday, August 3, 2021.
Bill was born in Maynard, MA in 1936. He resided in Stow, MA and enlisted in the USAF as an aviation cadet in 1958 obtaining his navigator wings and commission in 1959. He met Barbara, his wife of 61 years while stationed at Keesler AFB and they were married in 1960 in Biloxi. As an EWO crewmember in B-52's, he was stationed at several SAC bases and flew 92 combat missions over Vietnam. He was assigned to the United Nations Command, Seoul, South Korea as an air analyst. As an intelligence officer he was later assigned to 8th Air Force and Bomb wings at Westover, MA and Robins AFB, GA, until retirement in 1978. He graduated from Park College with a degree in Business Administration in 1975. He was a life member of the DAV and a member of the American Legion and a member of Gateway United Methodist Church. Decorations include Air Medal w/3OLC, Joint Service Commendation Medal, AF Commendation Medal w/2OLC and numerous other unit and service awards and medals. After his USAF retirement in 1978, the Whitney's settled in Gulfport. Bill worked for the HCETA program and a later was instrumental in bringing Regina Co. to Long Beach. He then spent 22 years as a U.S. Navy employee retiring again in 2002 from SUPSHIP, Pascagoula.
He is survived by his wife Barbara of Gulfport; son, Col. William E. Whitney III and grandchildren, Emily and Christopher of Madison, AL: a daughter, Elizabeth, and grandchildren, Siraj, Lauren, and Alex of San Jose, CA. He loved the outdoors, gardening and fishing were among his hobbies. Please celebrate his life not his death.
A visitation will be held from 12:00PM until 1:00PM on Friday, August 13,v2021, at Riemann Family Funeral Home, 11280 Three Rivers Road, Gulfport. A memorial service will follow the visitation in funeral home chapel at 1:00PM. A burial will follow at Biloxi National Cemetery at 2:30PM.