Obituary of Earl William Whitlock

Earl Whitlock passed away on February 8, 2024 at age 96.

Earl was predeceased by his parents, Charles and Dorothy (Nulton) Whitlock, and former spouses, Janet Whitlock and Edie Whitlock.

He was the father of:  William (Mary) of Amherst, NY

Janis (Glen) of Rochester, NY

Glenn (Lyn) of Crossville, TN

and step-father of Anna Pro (Steve) of Layton, Utah.

He was grandfather to:Lindsey (Sammy) Loonkishu of Centerville, Ohio

Shelly (Tim) Lambert of Pittsford, NY

Rory Whitlock of Niagara Falls, NY

Kaitlyn (Hillary) Whitlock of North Tonawanda, NY

Marc Whitlock of Buffalo, NY

and Leta Pro of Layton, Utah

Earl was Great Grandfather to dearly loved Jack, Micah, Caleb, Jude, and Gianna.

Earl was a WWII Navy Veteran. He was a Fire Controlman on the heavy cruiser, the USS Los Angeles, firing the large guns on the ship near the end of the war.  As a member of the ship’s first crew, he took part in its shake down cruise to Cuba, through the Panama Canal, to Los Angeles, Hawaii, and eventually Korea and China. He was awarded a Victory Medal, an American Theatre Medal, and an Asiatic Pacific medal.

After his service he returned to Western New York where he attended art school, and became a commercial artist who did photo retouching, and raised a family.  He enjoyed the outdoors, camping and bowling, and served in his church and in his community. He was a jack-of-all-trades.  If he didn’t know how to do something he taught himself or took a course, ( like plumbing, construction, welding, scuba diving, and so on.)

Later, he was able to travel the country and lived in northern California, near the Oregon border, and next to the Pacific Ocean in the Redwood Trails area.  He enjoyed sharing the area with black bears, Roosevelt Elk, a fox family, and hummingbirds!  At the age of 85 he was able to return to Western New York and spend more time with his family.