- Date Of Birth: December 26, 1932
- Date Of Death: September 8, 2017
- State: Idaho
MARVIN E. WHITEMAN, JR., 1932-2017
Marvin E. Whiteman, Jr., 84, passed away Friday, September 8, of natural causes. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, an inventor, entrepreneur, a racer, developer, husband, father, and grandfather.
Marv was born in 1932 to Marvin E. Whiteman, Sr. and Hazel Thornton. His father began teaching him to fly when he was eight. By the time he was 13, he had logged 61 hours of flight time and fought the restriction that kept him from soloing as a pilot, drawing attention from the Associated Press.
“We can show that kids can fly maybe even quicker than grown-ups,” he said at the time. “Then maybe Washington will understand that a kid like me ought to be allowed to solo.”
Marv studied at the University of Southern California, but when the Korean War broke out, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and became a fighter pilot, reaching the rank of first lieutenant. After his discharge, one of his first jobs was working as a pilot for his father, who was a friend and confidant of Senator Barry Goldwater, President Richard Nixon, and numerous celebrities. Marv met and flew Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne and his wife Pilar, among others.
He also bought vintage WWII airplanes and restored them. He sold two P-51 Mustangs that he’d personally rebuilt to finance his first steps into business and to purchase land in McCall, Idaho, which became his permanent home after he spotted it from the air in 1964.
Marv took over Whiteman Industries upon his father’s death in 1976 and moved it to Boise, where he turned it into a worldwide leader in the design and building of equipment for concrete manufacturing. After selling the company to Multiquip Inc. in 1992, he went on to found Performance Design Inc. and High Country Technology, also based in Boise. He held 16 patents for his inventions.
Marv was an accomplished racer who won both motorcycle and auto races, and was known nationally for his work restoring classic hot rods. An avid outdoorsman, Marv loved to fly his Cessna 185 into Pistol Creek on the Middle Fork of the Salmon to hunt big game with his closest friends. He was also a partner in several residential developments in McCall, and donated land to help complete a public access trail from McCall to Cascade.
He spent his last days at the home he helped design on his property in McCall. One of his greatest joys was watching his grandchildren play there, surrounded by his wife and family.
Marv was preceded in death by his sister Lynn C. Whiteman and son Marvin E. Whiteman III. He is survived by his wife Carol, his daughters Jennifer (Jeff) Mendiola and Melissa (Bill) Gilbert, his son William (Andrea) Whiteman, his stepsons Christopher (Jean) and Bryon (Amanda) Farnsworth, and his eleven grandchildren: Camden, Madison, Connor, Jared, Caden, Kathryn, Benjamin, Catherine, Caroline, Daphne, and Chase.
