Alexander Harvey "Zander" Whitman Obituary (1944

Alexander Harvey "Zander" Whitman Jr, 70, died on June 20, 2014 at his home in Bremerton, WA, 2 1/2 years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. A self-described curmudgeon, his ideal of housekeeping was to put something down when he entered the house, and let it sit for 10 years. He lived alone, and did not like strangers in the house. However, those who saw through this act knew a warm, funny man; a talented engineer whom younger colleagues described as a mentor. He was widely known for his technical expertise. As a former coworker wrote, "When it came to professional issues, we all including his bosses) either deferred to his judgment immediately or, after realizing our error, deferred to it later." He was known for his puns, his intelligence, and his vocabulary; he kept a dictionary on his desk at work so that less enlightened colleagues could figure out what he just said. These were words for precision, not appearance; he was proud of his clear writing and expected it from others. His mature career and friendships were not a foregone conclusion. After high school, he ignored his father's wish that he attend Harvard, and went to work as a laborer in a Navy shipyard. He finally went to college, but was interested in math and physics, not the courses in which you could get a "gentleman's C" before going to work in business. His first love was math, but (despite knowing French, Latin, and Greek) he loathed foreign languages, and a degree in math required studying German. To avoid this, he took up engineering. He dropped out several times, once justifying his decision to join the Navy by describing his classmates "about 50% of the enrollment.. [are an] ignorant, arrogant, naive group." In contrast, while it's hard to imagine him taking to military discipline, he remembered the Navy fondly, reporting that the Navy taught him to the practical skill of "working with all sorts of people." In 1969, he married Laura Grinnell "Hoppy" Koehne, and their first daughter was born in 1971, after which he finally finished his college degree. Their second daughter, whom he later nicknamed "her aristocratic majesty" (HAM for short) was born in 1973. While he and Hoppy shared many core values, the marriage was challenging, and they separated after 23 years. As the children grew up, he was more reserved around his family than the warm, funny man his coworkers report. He reserved his open enthusiasm for furry, four-legged friends: after his children were grown, a long succession of much-loved cats and dogs, bearing names like "Maggie Mugwump" and "Curmudgeon," were his devoted companions. The focus of this enthusiasm was redirected when he met his granddaughter, and he was a doting grandfather for the past 4 1/2 years. In his hobbies, he became a craftsman, and was a talented carpenter, plumber, and electrician, first repairing the houses his family lived in, then moving to fine woodworking when he retired. He also bought a 54' wooden boat, the Orcas Belle, and spent happy weekends tending to the detailed woodworking on her. Outside of woodworking, he read voraciously, focusing on military history (a passion he shared with his father), boats, and technical math. In the year before his death, he still considered books like "Spatial Geometry" to be good casual reading. The maddening, frustrating, endearing, and lovable contradictions continue. His friends could add pages more. In summary, as his brother-in-law wrote upon hearing of his death, "If I were religious, I could see him in heaven, with a halo, probably worn backwards and tilted the wrong way, strumming a little harp and rolling his eyes at the idiocy of it all, wondering where all the scotch was, and god on his throne, scratching his very large head and wondering, "Shit, what do I do now?" He is survived by one orange cat, (Trunnion), four siblings (Schuyler, Jennifer, Sylvia and Stephen), two children (Alexandra and Nell), two grandchildren (Macgregor and Whit) and his former spouse (Laura). A memorial service is being held at 11 AM on July 26 at St. Antony's in Silverdale, WA, followed by a reception, and all fans of Zander are welcome. RSVP to Alexandra Whitman for directions - alexandrawhitmanATgmail.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Central Kitsap Food Bank http://ckfoodbank.org/. Service: St. Antony's of Egypt 10239 Old Frontier Rd NW, Silverdale, WA 98383 (360) 698-0555 Saturday, July 26, 2014 11 AM All welcome