Richard Francis Whitaker

Richard Francis Whitaker, aged 77, passed away at home in Durham, NC on Sunday, August 24, 2025, with his wife Mary F. McMahon by his side. He was born in Providence, RI on July 28, 1948, to the late Helen (Freitas) and the late Herbert Whitaker.

Richard grew up in Providence with his two sisters, Paula Cravens and Mary Jane Whitaker (Gloria Maione). He attended Johnson & Wales College and Roger Williams College before entering the pipefitter apprenticeship program at General Dynamics-Electric Boat Division, Groton CT. He rose to the position of Nuclear Ships Superintendent.

In the late 1970’s Richard left Electric Boat to pursue outside construction management with Air Products. He served as Senior Construction Superintendent and provided on-site oversight of projects in Ohio and Alabama before being selected to be the on-site advisor for erection of an oxygen plant in Trinidad and later for a LNG project in Bontang, Indonesia.

Richard returned to RI in the mid 1980’s as an Area Superintendent for Electric Boat Division, Quonset Point, RI. Overlapping with this period, Richard pursued his interest in having his own business and purchased a local Coverall commercial cleaning franchise. Having proved himself successful at operating a small business, Richard and a partner purchased a Coverall Master Franchise for the southern Ohio region in 1990 where they won many national awards for Net Gain, Top Sales and Franchise Sales.

Richard had been born with multiple heart defects (Tetralogy of Fallot) which is now repaired in infancy, but the surgery was only developed after 1954. Adult patients with uncorrected ToF rarely live beyond the age of 40. So, in 1996 Richard faced a major health crisis and underwent the repair surgery at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati OH. During his recovery, Richard sold the southern Ohio Master and other territories he had obtained. He retained the opportunity to develop the Coverall Master Franchise for Las Vegas NV which he did in 1997-1998.

Now recognized as an expert in the franchising system, Richard was hired by Coverall North America, Inc. as its Divisional Director - West Coast Operation in 1998 and oversaw 6 regional offices until he was promoted to Vice President - Operations, National Accounts, Equipment/Chemicals in 2000. He re-located from Las Vegas to the Fort Lauderdale Fl corporate office.

In May 2001 Richard met Mary F. McMahon, a RI attorney, administrative judge and former state legislator. Soon afterwards he moved to RI and started his own Master Franchising business in the Boston area. In April 2005 Richard and Mary were married at St. Peter’s Church in Warwick RI.

In 2007 the Boston business was sold, and Richard was asked to help a friend, a Coverall Master Franchise owner of several California territories, that he had mentored when he was Divisional Director. Richard and Mary lived in California until the business was sold in 2012. Subsequently, Richard was employed by another Master Franchise owner, also in California. Richard retired in 2016.

Due to Richard’s persistent heart problems, it was necessary to reside near an Adult Congenital Heart Disease Clinic. As a result, Richard and Mary moved to Durham, North Carolina for the program at Duke Hospital.

Richard loved hosting parties, enjoying good food and wine, grilling, eating any kind of seafood (even having RI lobster sent to Durham), traveling, and playing cribbage with his Taunton, MA cousins. He was memorable for his zest for life and his great sense of humor, even in some tense situations. He will be greatly missed.

He is survived by his wife, Mary McMahon; and his two sisters, Paula Cravens of Warwick, RI, and Mary Jane Whitaker of Dunnellon, FL.

A Mass in Celebration of Life will be held on October 24, 2025, at 11:00 am at St. Peter’s Church, 350 Fair Street, Warwick, RI.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in his memory be made to The Children’s Heart Foundation, 5 Revere Drive, One Northbrook Place, Suite 200, Northbrook, IL 60062.