Claire Whitaker

Claire Whitaker

1928 ~ 2021

Television Writer

Santa Fe, NM- Claire Whitaker Peterson died the evening of Thursday, September 23rd, 2021, surrounded by her family at her home in Santa Fe, NM. Those she befriended, encouraged, mentored and inspired visited her in the last days of her life to express their love and gratitude.

She was born Orma Clara Whitaker on May 26, 1928 in Evanston, IL to her artist father William Ferrin Whitaker Sr. and gifted mother Martha Elizabeth Bassett. From a young age, her intelligence, love of reading and poetry drove her curiosity and would inspire her to pursue a career in writing. She was an alumnus of Northwestern University in journalism which would eventually lead to a writing career in Hollywood, blazing a trail for other female writers in a male-dominated industry.

She moved to California in 1948 to attend classes at USC and got a job as a typist for radio and early television programs including the Jack Benny Show and Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life". One of her sons once bragged that his mom's typewriter went faster than anyone else's, although everyone knew it was fueled by Diet Rite Cola and boxes of Good & Plenty. When her parents retired to La Jolla, CA in 1949, she moved in with them and would eventually meet and marry Delbert E. Wallengren in 1951. They were married until their divorce in 1971.

In the fall of 1951, her father Ferrin and his brothers purchased Schneitter's Hot Pot Resort in Midway, Utah. Del and Claire joined the family caravan to the Heber Valley outside of Park City, Utah where, on their arrival, they had to tunnel through six feet of snow to get into the resort's lobby. The entire family put on their work boots and remodeled the resort, renaming it The Homestead, a name that still stands today. As children were born, they joined parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles at The Homestead in what was a veritable family commune and those years proved to be the foundation of the strongest and most loving bonds that a family could have.

Claire became involved in the community along with her Uncle Scott and suggested that Midway celebrate the Swiss culture of the town of nine hundred people. Today, Swiss Days attracts a hundred-thousand visitors to the town, one of the largest annual gatherings in the state and a boon to the local economy. She wrote a weekly column for the local newspaper, the Wasatch Wave, and was part of the civic, cultural, and religious community while raising her five children.

At the same time, she continued to write poetry and plays. In 1962 she was given the opportunity to write a short film for the newly formed BYU Motion Picture Studios. The film was to be presented at the LDS pavilion during the 1964 New York World's Fair. That short film, "Man's Search for Happiness" would go on to be seen by millions, not only at the World's Fair but by LDS members around the world. She also wrote the original screenplay for "Johnny Lingo" and many other early church films.

In 1963, she signed with the legendary and powerful H.N. Swanson Agency in Hollywood and began writing television screenplays for "Death Valley Days", "Wagon Train" and "The Wonderful World of Disney". Realizing that with more writing assignments she needed to be near the studios in Hollywood and found herself returning to Southern California in 1964 with her family in tow.

Claire would meet her second husband, Roderick William Peterson, on the corner of Mickey Mouse Lane and Dopey Drive on the Walt Disney Studios lot and, after their marriage in 1972, would begin a nearly twenty-year writing partnership. After a successful multi-season run as writers and producers for the television classic "The Waltons", the two of them would sign a three-year development deal with Mary Tyler Moore Productions. After that, they returned to Lorimar Productions and spent 8 years with their close friend and colleague Earl Hamner on his nighttime television drama series "Falcon Crest". Some of her television writing credits include "Emergency", "Apple's Way", "Eight is Enough", "Promised Land", "Baywatch", and "Touched by an Angel". She also wrote the TV movies "A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion" and "A Walton Wedding".

In 2012 a book of her poetry was published titled "The Listening Place".

Claire and Rod retired to Santa Fe in 1989 where they continued to help and encourage many young men and women that were aspiring to be writers. They enjoyed many happy years hosting family and friends from out of town as well as developing long lasting friendships and contributing to philanthropic work for the American Diabetes Association, Institute of American Indian Arts, and ALSA.

Claire was preceded in death by her son Ernest Ferrin Wallengren in 2003 and her husband Roderick Peterson in 2004. She is survived by four children; Martha Kristin Garbett of Salt Lake City, UT, Mark Delbert Wallengren of Studio City, CA, Eric Jon Wallengren of Murray, UT, and Rolf Whitaker Wallengren of Santa Fe, NM. In addition to her children, she is survived by twenty-three grandchildren and eighteen great grandchildren.

Funeral services were held at the Midway City Cemetery on Friday Morning October 8, 2021. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to find a cure for ALS by visiting www.fixals.org.