Shirley J. Whisman

Sep 20, 1930 -

Jan 1, 2026

Shirley J. Whisman (Reed) was born on Sept. 20, 1930, at the Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., daughter of Lt. Col. Philip W. Reed and Retta C. Reed. She spent the first four years of her life at Fort Monmouth and Fort Myers where Col. Reed was in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. In 1933, the family was transferred to Seattle, Wash., for further duty in Alaska. Due to a longshoreman's strike affecting the Alaska Steamship Company, transportation to Alaska was delayed until 1936, when the family and other members of the Alaska Communications System finally boarded the strikebreaker, the S.S. Gorgas. This ship was a World War I German ship and a prize of war. This was a coal fired ship, and many a ton was shoveled by hand into the furnaces for the trip. Since no Alaska ports had been served due to the strike of Alaska Steam, the Gorgas was loaded with food for "starving" Alaskans, although considerable beer and liquor was delivered to each port on the trip. Accommodations on the Gorgas were less than desirable, as the women and children were berthed in cabins while all the men were in a dormitory on the steerage deck. Christmas was celebrated aboard the ship on the journey north, and Shirley fondly remembers her solitary present which was a very small panda bear. Arriving in Anchorage shortly after the first of January 1937, the family was housed in a government house located at 645 Third Avenue and is identified as Anchorage Historical Properties, as Cottage #12 building, in 1917. For the 1937 Fur Rendezvous, Shirley and her older sister Phyllis were participants: Shirley as a page with her costume having been made by Jeanne Laurence, wife of Sydney Laurence, and sister Phyllis as a court jester. Shirley attended the Anchorage grade school, its location now being occupied by the Performing Arts Center. Skiing was enjoyed on the hillside from Third Avenue down to Ship Creek. Shirley's favorite pet during this time was a black bear cub, which was lead around on a leash until such time it became too much to handle for a 6-year-old child. Shirley and family left Anchorage in 1939 aboard the Alaska Steamship Company's S.S. Mt. McKinley and returned to Seattle, where her father became stationed at the ACS Transmitter Station on Government Hill, West Seattle. Shirley graduated from West Seattle High School in 1948, attended Edison Technical School in Seattle and later attended Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. She worked in the Bank of California in Seattle until her marriage to Robert J. Whisman in 1953. Early marriage years were spent in Bellevue and Wenatchee until 1963, when they were transferred to Anchorage. After their three children were grown, Shirley returned to banking at the Peoples Bank of Alaska.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Robert J. Whisman. She is survived by her sons, James P. Whisman and John R. Whisman with wife Judith C. Whisman; daughter, Catherine Diehl-Robbins with husband Everett G. Robbins; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. At her request, no funeral service will be held, with private interment at the Fort Richardson National Cemetery.