Roger S. Whitlock ’42

Roger Whitlock died April 10, 2013.

He was born in Evanston, Ill., and grew up in Bethesda, Md. He prepared for college at Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., and followed his brother, David ’40, to Princeton.  

In 1941, Roger left Princeton and enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Because of his background in French and in radio technology, he was admitted to officer training to learn the latest in radar technology at Yale. Roger was part of the second wave at Omaha Beach, commanding a mobile radar unit that provided support for low-level bomb attacks as part of the 354th Pioneer Mustang Fighter Group. He was in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge.

An electronics enthusiast as a young man, Roger made a career in this modern field. After the war he set up two radio stations, WGEM in Quincy, Ill., and WKDN in Camden, N.J. He then joined Tung-Sol Electronics (a manufacturer of electronic components) and became national sales manager. Tung-Sol was purchased by Wagner Electric in the 1970s. He retired from Wagner in 1988.

Roger’s wife, Mary Frances, died in 2002. He is survived by his daughters, Harriet and Ione; his son, Victor; two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.