Robert B. Whittlesey ’43

Whit, a passionate advocate for affordable housing, died Feb. 27, 2023, at his home in Acton, Mass. He was 101 years old. 

Born in Preston, Conn., he grew up in Princeton (behind Elm Club), where his father was a professor of politics at the University. His brother John was in the Class of ’39. Whit prepped at Lawrenceville. At Princeton, he majored in civil engineering and economics, was the librarian of the music department record library, and worked with the Refreshment Agency. He lived at home during his four years of college. 

After World War II, where he saw action in the Battle of the Bulge with the Army Field Artillery, Whit returned to Princeton, graduating in 1947 and earning an advanced degree in 1948. He married Louise Allen, with whom he would build a life and family over the next 70 years. His first job with a national construction firm lasted 10 years. Then, with the help of a Sears Roebuck graduate fellowship, he earned a master’s degree in city planning from Penn. 

In 1964, Whit founded Boston’s South End Community Development Inc. He soon was at work bringing government, nonprofit organizations, and the housing industry together to build successful social housing and community-development projects, creating tens of thousands of affordable apartments and homes, and forming a framework for others to follow. His book, Social Housing Found, describes his long career that only wound down in 2022, when he ended his 17-year term as chairman of the Acton Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. 

Whit was predeceased by his wife, Louise, in 2013. He is survived by five children: Damaris, Robert ’71, Pamela ’75, Prudence, and Suzanne; nine grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.