My Mentor is gone

I am still in shock. My heart is broken.

Obituary - Terrance L. Whitling

Terrance L. Whitling, 61, of 209 Woodland Drive, Oil City, died at 12:21 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009, at UPMC Northwest in Seneca.

Born Jan. 20, 1948, in Oil City, he was a son of Merrill and Roselyn Gdanitz Whitling.
Mr. Whitling was a graduate of Clarion University and the University of Toledo Law School and was a member of both alumni associations.

A veteran of the Vietnam War, he served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
Mr. Whitling practiced law in Venango County for 34 years and was a support court hearing officer.

Mr. Whitling was a member of the Venango County Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He had been a member of the Florida Bar Association since 1995.

He was a member of Masonic Petrolia Lodge No. 363 F&AM, Venango Lodge of Perfection, Coudersport Consistory and the Kiwanis Club. He was a lifetime member of VFW and a member of Izaac Walton.

Mr. Whitling was a member of the Republican Party.

He served on the board of directors for the Salvation Army and was solicitor for the zoning board of the City of Oil City and for Cornplanter, President and Pine Grove townships, Northwest Saving Bank, Franklin Credit Union and Brandon Cemetery. He was also a U.S. Postal Service mediator and previously served on Oil City Council.

He was an Eagle Scout, a certified scuba diver, and a Minor League and Little League baseball coach.

Mr. Whitling was a former member of the Christ Episcopal Church & Vestry and had been a past junior warden. He was also a former member of the DuBois Business College faculty.

He was married on Oct. 23, 1976, to married to Rhesha Whitling, who survives.

Also surviving are his parents, Merrill and Rose Whitling; a son, Nicholas Whitling and his wife, Chelsee, of New Orleans; a daughter, Tracy Whitling and her husband, Trapper Little, of Columbus, Ohio; and a granddaughter, Norah Little.

Also surviving are a brother, Thomas Whitling and his wife, Anna Marie, of Laurel, Md.; a sister, Rose Potts and her husband, Jack, of Seneca; seven nieces and nephews, Ed “Mike,” Chrissy, Melanie, Jack Ernest, Jenny, Abigail and Diana and their families.

Mr. Whitling was preceded in death by a brother, Edward M. Whitling.

Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Morrison Funeral Home.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday the Christ Episcopal Church.
Interment will be in Brandon Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to a charity of one’s choice.

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Terry, you were an great inspiration to me, and you will continue to be as long as I walk this earth. You will be missed.

Dragon