BOWDOINHAM – Darrell E. Whitney, LCDR (USN, Ret.), 72, died at home on Sunday, December 6, 2015, of esophageal cancer.

Darrell spent his life as a person who embraced each new day, viewing the “glass as always being at least half-full,” a philosophy that led him to seek out and embrace new experiences, work, and hobbies throughout his life. He grew up on a dairy and hog farm in Winnebago, Illinois. He spent one year at the University of Illinois before leaving to join the U.S. Navy, but not before he met the woman who would become his beloved wife of over 50 years and fully justifying his optimistic philosophy. Through his naval career, he was given the chance to try his hand at many new experiences and opportunities in a variety of locations and commands; it was during this time that he earned his BME from Speed Scientific School at the University of Louisville as he became an officer through NESEP, and later his Masters of Education from Providence College, and gained a love of travel and of places such as Maine (perhaps appropriate, as his mother’s family had roots in Pittsfield that reached back nearly two centuries) and Alaska. Darrell retired as a Lieutenant Commander in 1982, and settled permanently with his family in Maine where he began a second career in teaching, from which he retired in 2002 after 17 years at Morse High School in Bath. He remained active in his retirement, relishing the time it gave him for travel, entertainment, and time with family, though some might suggest that his refusal to adopt a sedentary lifestyle permitted his son to extend his lead to well over a hundred games in their lifelong cribbage competition. Darrell is survived by his wife of 50 years, Karen Whitney; their son Darrell Whitney Jr. and his wife Lynne; mother Helen (Clark) Whitney; sister Kay Whitney Hurd and her husband Robert Hurd; nieces the Rev. Laurie Hurd Hill and Valerie Hurd Canning and their families. The family would like to express its sincere thanks and deepest appreciation to the CHANS hospice team for its compassionate care, and for their dedication to both helping Darrell in the latter stages of his illness and in assisting the family. A graveside service will take place on Monday, December 14th at 1 p.m. at the Maine Veterans’ Cemetery, Civic Center Drive, Augusta with military honors. Darrell requested that in lieu of flowers donations in his memory be made to the Coastal Humane Society, Brunswick, Maine.
Arrangements are under the care of Kincer Funeral Home 130 Pleasant St. Richmond, Me 04357.