Whiting R. Willauer ’53 *59

“Whitey,” who was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency while still an underclassman and lived an exciting life, as did his Colonial clubmate, astronaut Pete Conrad, died of pneumonia July 13, 2012, while awaiting heart-bypass surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. With him were his children William, Whiting R. Jr., and Sally Nash.

He roomed freshman year with fellow Milton Academy classmates Don Harris and Bayard Henry. If one word can describe Whitey, Don says it’s “adventurer.” With the CIA, he went to China and joined his father, Whiting ’28, and Flying Tigers legend Gen. Claire Chennault, both of whom headed the Civil Air Transport. Civil Air was a cover, Whitey said, for the CIA, which had him flying passengers by day and penetrating enemy lines at night during the Korean and early Vietnam wars. Whitey also participated in the Guatemala Revolution after he had returned to Princeton to graduate. He also earned a master’s degree in engineering from Princeton in 1959.

An excellent sailor and skier, he was president of the U.S. Ski Association and the skiing representative for the U.S. Olympic Committee. He was the 11th generation of his family in Nantucket, Mass., and was a member and former chairman of the Nantucket Board of Selectmen.

Besides his children, Whitey is survived by grandchildren Charlotte and Benjamin.