Robert “Bob” Whitman passed away on April 28, 2023.

He was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Robert H. and Estella Whitman as the second of four siblings. He graduated from Bel Air High School, Maryland in 1956, where he was an all-county tight end on his undefeated high school football team. He would often argue with his football coach because he would leave the locker room at halftime to play saxophone in the school’s marching band, only to rush back to the team to finish the game.  He turned down a full football college scholarship to study electrical engineering at Drexel University on an All Army ROTC scholarship.

After graduating, he served in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, obtaining the rank of 1^st Lieutenant, Unit Commander, where he specialized in implementing communications equipment.  During a stint at Fort Monmouth, he met his wife Susan, and they were married in 1961 at Holy Trinity RC Church in Long Branch.

Bob and Sue traveled extensively until his release from active duty in 1963, when they decided to settle in Ocean Township.  At that time, Bob took a civilian position at Fort Monmouth’s CECOM (Communications-Electronics Command), where he continued to design and implement communications equipment for the Army.  He often told stories about his time in Vietnam and testing communications equipment in Central America.  In 1967, he received a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Newark College of Engineering (now NJIT).  At CECOM, he rose to the position of Army Technical Leader and Advisor to the Commanding General; he was a named inventor on a U.S. patent; and he was awarded Decoration for Exceptional Civil Service, the Army’s highest accommodation for a civilian.  He worked for CECOM until 1995, when it was transferred out of Fort Monmouth.  He then consulted for a number of years before fully retiring.

Bob and Sue resided in Ocean Township for 57 years, raising three children in the process.  He was known as the neighborhood fix-it-guy, lending an immediate helping hand to anyone in need of assistance, whether it be electrical, plumbing, auto repair or appliance repair.  His family was the first in the neighborhood to have a TV remote control because he designed a system that mechanically turned the TV’s knob upon the push of a button.  He was an avid gardener, golfer and fisherman, and he played saxophone in local bands his entire life.  The world’s supply of tomatoes and zucchini has since noticeably decreased.

He was particularly excited about his family vacations, which almost always included the family dog and at least some fishing, and which ultimately expanded into annual vacations of 18 people that included his children’s spouses and his 10 grandchildren.

Surviving are his children, Kimberly and her husband Alfred Trujillo, Nokesville, VA., Susan Steady Whitman, Millstone, NJ and Robert A. Whitman and his wife Valerie, Westfield; his brother and sister-in- law, Jack and Joan Whitman, Brick; sister and brother-in-law Barbara and Robert Peterson, Fort Mill, SC; and ten grandchildren, Jonathan, Tyler, Lauren Trujillo; Austin, Alexa and Madison Steady; and Bradley, Paige, Briana and Alison Whitman.  He is pre-deceased by his beloved wife Susan, who passed in 2022; his sister Marion Hoppe and his son-in-law Joseph Steady.