Spalding Gabriel Wathen

SPALDING GABRIEL WATHEN

Spalding Wathen was born in Fresno, CA on March 1, 1925, and passed away on Friday, March 11, 2005, at the age of 80. On June 20, 1945, he married Della Ann Riebschlager. They were to celebrate their 60-year anniversary this summer. Spalding was a U.S. Navy pilot in World War II. He graduated from Roosevelt High School and then University of California, Berkeley in 1949, with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He was a member of the Chi Epsilon and Tau Beta Pi Engineering Scholastic Fraternities and graduated in the top of his class. He obtained his general contractor's license in 1950, and his real estate broker's license in 1953. He was Chief Executive Officer of Wathen Brothers, Headliner Homes and Mansionette Homes, one of the Valley's top builders respected for their combination of fine workmanship matched with affordable housing. He was also a four-time President of the Builders Industry Association and was inducted in the West Coast Builders Association Hall of Fame in 1996. He is one of a select few of builders who was granted the Oscar Spano Award for Lifetime Achievement. For almost 60 years, be built over 10,000 homes and apartments, and has developed more than 60 subdivisions throughout the Central Valley, including his most recent subdivisions on the Central Coast. He also built and/or owned Cedar Lanes, Storyland, Rancho Del Rey Golf Course in Merced, Family Health & Fitness Club in Santa Maria, and numerous other shopping centers and office complexes. He was also instrumental in the recent restoration of downtown's Hotel Virginia and the Rowell Building. Spalding was a true visionary who was extremely active in the community and was a strong employer in the Valley. He also loved to play the harmonica. His numerous donations include the Fresno State University Tennis Center, the 33 acres on which St. Agnes Medical Center was built, the ten-acre site for the new Holy Spirit Catholic Church, and the ten acres for St. Patrick's Church in Merced. He was a founding member of the Board of Directors for the Bank of Fresnc and was a lifetime member of the Central California Bowling Hall of Fame. Spalding was preceded in death by his parents, James A. Wathen, Sr. and Mary Pearl Hagan; his sister, Martha Labarre; his brothers, James A. Wathen, Jr., and Dick Wathen; and his grandson, Stephen S.E. Beals. He is survived by his wife, Della Ann Wathen; his five daughters, Judy Wathen-Farris and her husband Harold, Shelley Cox and her husband Gary, Leslie Prendergast, Terry Lombardi and her husband Joe, and Cindy Wathen; his six grandchildren, Tammy Yarak and her husband Ken, Sarah Taylor, Alison Prendergast, Josiah Prendergast, Anna Prendergast, and Vincent Lombardi; his brothers, Jack Wathen and his wife Doreen, and Ron Wathen and his wife Carol; and his sisters, Theresa Castanos and her husband Joe, and Pat Wathen. Visitation will be held at Whitehurst, Sullivan, Burns & Blair Chapel on Wednesday, March 16, 2005, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Recitation of the Rosary will be held at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church on Wednesday, March 16, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church on Thursday, March 17, 2005, at 10:00 a.m. Interment will foIliow at Saint Peter's Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to either Nazareth House, 2121 N. First, Fresno, CA 93703; St. Agnes Medical Center Foundation, P.O. Box 27350, Fresno, CA 93720; or Fresno Survivors of Suicide, 2585 E. Perrin Ave., #102, Fresno, CA 93720. WHITEHURSTSullivan, Burns & Blair Chapel1525 E. Saginaw 227-4048