Jim Whiting

Whiting, Jim ENCINITAS -- CARTOONIST Jim Whiting, 88, died on March 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, with his loving wife Bernita at his side. He had lived 15 years with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). James Vincent Whiting was born in 1926 in Canton, PA, to George and Grace Whiting. He grew up in Watkins Glen, NY, served in the US Navy, and on November 20th, 1945, married his high school sweetheart, Bernita. He studied cartooning in Chicago and New York City before returning to Watkins Glen to raise a family and build his cartooning career, publishing in The Saturday Evening Post, LOOK magazine, and over 75 others. Beginning in 1956, he hosted local radio station WFLR's "Morning Show" for 28 years. He and Bernita moved to North County San Diego in 1984 where, at age 58, he refocused his cartooning on illustrations for books, manuals, newsletters, advertisements and web sites. He founded the Southern California Cartoonists Society (SCCS) and helped institute the annual "Cartoonists Day" at the San Diego Blood Bank. In 2005, Jim published a memoir titled Analecta: Selected Reflections of a Cartoonists Life, a tribute to the many people he knew and admired. He loved tennis, and played until age 86. His greatest joy was bringing someone a smile. He was positive, warm, funny, encouraging and inclusive-a truly successful man-and he will be sorely missed. Jim was preceded in death by his brothers, Dann and Bill Whiting. He is survived by his beloved wife of 69 years, Bernita Blanchard Whiting; their five children: Jim (Patricia) of Los Angeles, Donna (Harry) Orlyk of Salem, NY, John (Mary) of Odessa, NY, Andi (Frank) Osborne of Watkins Glen, NY, and David (Susan) of Hector, NY; eleven grand- children; three great- grandchildren; sisters-in-law, Ruth (Bill) Whiting of Homer, NY, Mila (Dann) Whiting of Watkins Glen, NY, and Joan Blanchard Valent Schwei of Carlsbad, CA; and several cousins, nephews and nieces. A celebration of Jim's life will be held in upstate New York this summer, location and time to be announced.