James Everett Whipple

James Everett Whipple "Chief"
91 Years Old
Resided in Lakeside, California
Passed Away on April 20th, 2015 at Pomarado Hospital in Poway California
Died of Natural Causes
Born - December 13th, 1923 in Ness City Kansas
Son of Bernice and Jake Whipple of Beeler Kansas "Chief" was number 8 of 13 siblings.

Chief grew up on the farm where he learned to work hard and play hard. He and his brother Don were called "Midnight and Sunrise" because although they did finish their chores and milking every day it took them an extraordinary amount of time to get done due to the wrestling, ratting, fighting, riding, hiding and general mischief that never seemed to be far from the two brothers.

Jim stayed on the farm until the start of WWII. He enlisted in the Navy and served 2 years in the Pacific.

Upon his return from the war he studied engineering at the University of Denver. He married and moved to California and continued his engineering studies at San Diego State University.

He was hired as a surveyor by the County of San Diego and surveyed for the next 30 years. He loved the outdoors and walking through the wilderness. Surveying took him to many desolate locations, some only accessible by helicopter. He often brought home snakes, birds, lizards and trap door spiders; he was always fascinated by and enjoyed the nature around him.

In California he raised five children, four daughters and a son on a small ranch about 30 miles inland from the coast. The saying "You can take the man out of Kansas but you can't take the Kansas out of the man" really applied to Jim. After a day’s work surveying he would complete his "Route" he would leave work with a trailer, pick up the day old bread from the bakery, drive to the local pig farmers, swap the bread for pigs, then drive to the local dairy farmers and swap the pigs for day old calves. He would bring the calves or pigs or goats or chickens home and we would raise them to a substantial size for resale. This horse trading, haggling livestock swapping stuck with him to the very end. He was currently planning a trip to Texas to swap two zebras and sell another.

Jim always loved exotic and difficult animals; he was very successful at raising wild water fowl and was able to visit their breeding grounds deep in the Alaskan tundra a trip that included trains, boats, airplanes and Eskimo guides. His most memorable moment was the time he spent in Africa crawling across the Serengeti Desert on his stomach stocking wild game.

In his later years he was very active raising large exotic mammals, Przewalski’s Horses, Zebras and Camels. There was nothing he loved more than spending time in the barn with the animals.

James Whipple is survived by:
His wife Faye
Children: Fredricka, Paula, Christina and Joe
Siblings: 4 Brothers, Don, Rex, Tom and Paul and 1 sister Jenny
11 Grandchildren
More than 20 Great Grandchildren
Lost count on the Great, Great Grandchildren

There will be two services held for James Whipple

Featheringill Mortuary – Friday 10:00 AM, April 24th, 2015
6322 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115
619-583-9511

Fitzgerald Funeral Home – Friday 2:00 PM May 1st, 2015
207 N Pennsylvania Ave, Ness City, KS 67560
785-798-3243