JAMES F. "JIM" WHIPPLE

Jim was easily one of the most dedicated volunteers to the Boston Symphony. Of our 700+ volunteers, he regularly volunteered over 350 hours each season, which is easily the most number of hours of any volunteer here. Most recently, in addition to volunteering in archives, he began working with our Development department with data entry and research, as we knew he loved spreadsheets! He was a perfect fit for the job and each Wednesday you could count on Jim being at the desk in the volunteer office helping out the department. Jim will be missed indeed!

Jim was a great friend. we played in many musical groups together, and I alsway appreciated his friendship and musicianship

A longtime colleague at Liberty Mutual , Jim was a brilliant lawyer and a kind and gentle man. After his retirement, our paths often crossed on Charles Street in Boston and he spoke of his many volunteer projects. My deepest sympathy on your loss.

Jim often travelled to visit his cousins on Prince Edward Island. We so enjoyed his visits at the White family’s homestead-and touring around the island with him. We we visited Boston, he was a gracious host and a charming and knowledgeable tour guide. We extend our sympathy to Joe, Jeremy, Mamiko, Stephen and family.

All of us at the BSO Archives will miss Jim so very much. He was a dedicated volunteer for more than 25 years. We all marveled at his attention to detail, his capacity for concentration, and his incredible intellect. He entered thousands of Boston Symphony Orchestra program details into our internal database. As a result we were eventually able to create HENRY, the BSO's performance history search module (freely available to anyone). HENRY would not exist without Jim. During the first part of the pandemic, I heard from Jim. He was anxious to get back to his work here at the BSO Archives. It just won't be the same without Jim this Fall when we hope to be able to welcome back volunteers.