Jeraldine (Jerry) Whiting

Jeraldine (Jerry) Robbins Whiting, age 90, passed away peacefully in her home on March 4, 2022.  She was born February 8, 1932, the only girl and 2nd child of three, to Melvin and LaVean Robbins, in Tremonton, Utah.  Jerry graduated from Bear River High School in 1950 and went on to attend Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University) for one year, after which she moved to Salt Lake City to work in the Sears credit office.  It was then that a young Wesley F Whiting, recently home from service in the Army during the Korean War, enrolled in the Sears Management Training Program, saw Jerry walk by. He leaned over to a fellow coworker and said, “I’m going to marry a girl just like her.” It didn’t happen immediately, but eventually they were introduced to each other by a mutual friend and coworker and began dating.  On one such (creative) date, Wes and a friend decided it would be interesting to invite their girlfriends to go deer hunting on the West side of the Salt Lake Valley.  A buck was spotted and as Wes and his friend debated whether to shoot it or not, an impatient Jerry said, “Oh criminy, give me the rifle,” at which she dispatched the deer with one shot. True to Wes’s prediction, they were married June 7, 1957, in the Salt Lake City temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Wes and Jerry welcomed baby Gregory into their home two years later, bought a home in Salt Lake City, and settled down.  Jerry was the type who made friends easily, volunteered and served in her church and community, and sank deep roots.  While in this home, the couple welcomed two more boys, Blake and Kip.  In 1961, the Collin and Carma Smith family would move next door to the Whitings.  The two families, with children roughly the same age, would become good friends over the years.  Wes and Collin would become business partners in a construction company and move to Denver, where construction was booming.  Jerry was a Utah girl through and through and did not relish the idea of pulling up roots, leaving good friends and family, and moving to another state.  To get Jerry to move, Wes had to promise her the family would move back to the same home in Salt Lake City in five years.  Well, true to form, Jerry easily made new friends, served in the church in many capacities, and sank deep roots.  So much so, that when five years soon came and went, Jerry was happy and content to be where she was, growing to love the people of Arvada and becoming a true Coloradoan.

Jerry was always busy, so much so, that her neighbors remember her as, “Always going somewhere and doing something, it seemed.”  She was very competitive and loved to play on the women’s church sports teams and a competitive Arvada City bowling league.  She played church softball, basketball, and volleyball, but it was in softball where people still remember her mean fastpitch.  She loved to serve in any and all church capacities and at one time served as Stake Young Women’s President and then Stake Relief Society President.  Jerry loved to sing and perform in church and other functions.  Jerry and some close friends started a singing group called the Melodies and toured around the state performing.  But it was with the youth that Jerry and Wes loved to serve most whether it be chaperoning dances or going on week-long youth trips.

Jerry is preceded in death by her husband, Wesley F Whiting, her parents, Melvin Alfred and LaVean Robbins, and older brother, Darvel Robbins.  She is survived by her three sons Gregory Wesley (Diane) of Layton, UT, Blake Robbin of Salt Lake City UT, and Kip William Whiting of Phoenix, AZ., grandchildren Joshua Whiting, Tessa Dastrup (Kolby), and Zachary Whiting, her great grandson, Farron Dastrup, and her younger brother, RonDell Robbins.

The Whiting family wishes to thank everyone who came into our mother’s life and helped make it pleasant and memorable, especially in her later years.  After our father, Wes, passed away we wanted to move her back to Utah, but her wish was to stay in her home where she’d lived for almost fifty-four years.  Her kind neighbors, and the wonderful people of the Arvada 2nd Ward, gave countless hours of service to our mother that made it possible for her to pass happy, comfortably, and peacefully.  We would also like to thank the kind people at Horan & McConaty for their help and assistance at this time.

A viewing will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Quail building (6490 Quail St., Arvada, CO, 80004) on Thursday, March 10 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, with a Memorial Service beginning at 7:00 PM.  Another viewing will be held in Tremonton at Rogers & Taylor Funeral Home, 111 North 100 East, Tremonton, Utah 84337 on Monday, March 14, from 12:00 noon to 1:30 PM followed by a brief memorial service at 2:00 P.M. Interment at Riverview Cemetery, Tremonton, Utah. The service will be livestreamed and may be accessed below.