James Verne Whipp

James Verne Whipp

James Verne Whipp, a man of many talents and accomplishments and a wonderful friend, died at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center on Monday, June 13, 2011. He was 95. Jim was born in Portland, Oregon, on March 14, 1916, to James Verne Whipp, Sr., and Myrtle Davis Whipp. He was the grandson of Florence and James Carr Whipp, homesteaders in the Union District in Fallon.

When Jim graduated from Lincoln High School in 1933, the depth of the Great Depression, college was impossible so he worked for three years for the Fred Meyer stores. He entered Reed College in 1936 and continued working for Fred Meyer until he transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1939 to study chemical engineering. He received degrees from both institutions in 1941 and moved to Rodeo, CA, to work for the Refining Division of Union Oil of California. In September of that year, Jim married Audrey Alice Warner. They had two sons, James and Douglas.

Jim's career spanned many aspects of the petroleum industry. From refining he moved on to economic planning and then to project engineering, all with Union Oil in Los Angeles. In 1957 he joined C F Braun & Co as part of their sales division, first in Alhambra, CA, and then in Atlanta, GA. He traveled extensively during that time and, in the evenings (and before calculators!), invented a process for desalting 100,000,000 gallons of sea water per day to produce potable water using nuclear heat from a controlled reaction in a deep pool. He was eventually (1968) granted a patent for his "Thermosiphon Deep Pool Reactor" which was assigned to C F Braun & Co. From 1963-67, he was the Manager of Government Sales, based in Washington, DC. Audrey died in 1966 and the following year Jim and his sons moved to Madison, NJ. While living in the New York area, Jim met Roberta Anne Niklad who became his wife in 1968. They settled in London where Jim was the Manager of European Sales for Braun. In addition to Jim's business travel, he and Robbi took every opportunity to explore England and the Continent and to learn about wine and good food. They also took advantage of the wealth of live music and theater available in London. In 1974, Jim transferred to Braun's Project Division in Alhambra as Project Director for a Sun Oil refinery. In 1976, Jim joined Procon, a division of Universal Oil Products, and returned to London as Project Director for a refinery to be built in Bejaia, Algeria. In 1978, the Whipps moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Jim was Project Director for a grassroots refinery, now working for UOP. Card?n, Venezuela, was the next stop in 1981, and Jim's final posting before retirement was Tokyo.

In 1983, the Whipps came to Reno, where Jim attended TMCC to learn computer programming, a pursuit he enjoyed for the rest of his life. Jim loved music, theater and films and was a supporter of many local arts organizations, particularly the Reno Chamber Orchestra, of which he was a Life Member. The Whipps returned to Europe as often as possible and traveled annually to Ashland for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and to Telluride, CO, for the Chamber Music Festival until spinal problems curtailed Jim's activities. He loved hiking and camping from childhood. He hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon several times, the last trip when he was 79. History was another of his passions and he read extensively throughout his life. His friends remember his warmth, his wit, his keen analysis, his abundant generosity, and the sparkle in his eyes that was there to the very last.

Jim is survived by his devoted wife, Robbi, his sons, James and wife Gwendolyn of Oakton, VA, and Douglas of Sparks, NV, grandchildren James and wife Anne and their sons, James and William, and Elizabeth and husband Jonathan Grau and their daughters, Audrey and Eva. Jim asked to be cremated without ceremony but was amenable to his friends gathering to toast a long life, well lived, which they will do on Friday, July 1st, from 5 to 7 p.m., at the home of Doug and Theresa Damon, 5155 Cypress Point Drive, Reno.

In lieu of flowers, friends are asked to consider a contribution in Jim's memory to the Reno Chamber Orchestra, PO Box 547, Reno, NV 89504. Truckee Meadows Cremation & Burial is handling arrangements.