Alvin Owen Whitmer

Alvin Owen Whitmer, 91, passed away in hospice care on December 18, 2023. Alvin was born at home in Richmond, Missouri on March 20, 1932 to Elmer S. Whitmer and Virginia R. Hartzell. He graduated from Richmond High School in 1950 where he was a popular student who excelled in athletics including track (shot put and discus), and was captain of the Richmond Spartans football team.

In 1953, Alvin married his high school sweetheart, Gloria Jean Ross, in a ceremony at the Richmond Baptist Church. They were married for over 70 years and were residents of Pleasant Valley since 1959. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Alvin Whitmer helped Pleasant Valley grow from a small place into a growing community that expanded into hundreds of families in the following decades.

The couple had their first child in 1955, a son Bruce Alan (Debra) Whitmer followed by three daughters —Lisa Jean VanNatta, Kimberly Ann Monteleone, Julie Gayle Phillips, and a final son Brian Scott Whitmer in 1968. He was blessed to have six grand children, Arielle R. (Bill) Hobson, Ashley M. Border, Tyler G. VanNatta, Evan R. Russell, Eric M. Russell and Delaney A. Phillips, four great-grand children, Owen G. Border, Ava VanNatta, Elizabeth J. Hobson and William H. Hobson III, and the welcome joy of a great-great-grand daughter, Nyla H. Border.

He was preceded in death in 2020 by the passing of his daughter Kimberly from breast cancer and his brother Charles David Whitmer. When his daughter Kimberly passed away from breast cancer and he was unable to travel because of health reasons, he was devastated from losing his beloved daughter so young - leaving her two sons to grieve without the comforting hand of their grandfather. He acted as a rock of comfort to anchor Kimberly’s grieving and broken-hearted mother who was devastated by her illness and passing.

Following graduation from Richmond High School he attended classes at the Chillicothe Business College, and graduated from Kansas City Junior College learning to become an accomplished draftsman as well as taking classes at Finley Engineering college. Alvin was drafted in November of 1952 to serve his country in the Army during the Korean War as part of a bridge engineer company, and was honorably discharged in 1954.

Alvin began working for Koch Supplies in the late 1950s under the tutelage of Mr. Raymond Starr and quickly developed into an accomplished draftsman / engineer and eventually international salesman, designing and selling meat packing plants and equipment. He traveled to every continent except Antarctica while helping Koch expand the reach and value of its international business. In this role he traveled extensively internationally, including China, Africa, South America and Australia. He had business meetings with leaders of many countries including Somosa of Nicaragua, Manual Noriega of Panama, and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.

Alvin is remembered by his children as a patient, funny and loving father who was a hard worker in both his career and at home. Quick to smile, slow to anger and possessed of nearly supernatural patience. He enjoyed fishing, travel, building homes and cabinets as well as entertaining the family during get togethers with his outrageous stories and keen sense of humor.

He was generous and kind to all he met and was the first to offer a helping hand to those in need.

Alvin was a practical hands-on problem solver. He would encounter a problem, pull out a piece of paper and begin sketching out plans for the best solution. He could build almost anything and was a skilled and inventive fixer. Those around him learned that if they mentioned a fix-it problem, a deck to be built, or a repair needed, he would be there immediately, hammer in hand.

The home Alvin built in early 1970s was trend setting for the time with its built-in cabinets and desks in the bedrooms of each of the five children and throughout the house, attached South American inspired outdoor porch, as well as a modern laundry room. The home was so exceptional that his handiwork was featured in an article in the Kansas City Star.

Alvin was a skilled builder of homes, engineer, draftsman, problem-solver, and salesman, who loved movies—Westerns, Dramas, and especially outrageous comedies which would leave him laughing out loud and practically in tears at their antics. He was a passionate football fan rooting on both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tigers of Mizzou. He enjoyed being on the water and taught his children to water ski at the lake home he built at Lake Pomona in Kansas.

In partnership with his brother, Charles and later his cousin, Frank T. Rogers, he built more than a dozen homes and eventually owned rental properties across the Kansas City Metropolitan region.

Alvin would never be one to boast about his life and many accomplishments, but he would experience a note of inner satisfaction when he received a thank you or a well-deserved compliment. He was humble in accepting praise and would go beyond others expectations not for desire for praise, but to always be kind and helpful to others.

One of his favorite stories to tell was being struck by lightning in 1951, while employed at the construction site of the future Claycomo Ford Assembly plant. His shoes were blown off, his metal lunch box crumpled, and he had zipper scars on his chest from the metal zipper on his jacket.

He was known about town as the Calendar Man. (His daughter Julie works for a publishing company and received many complimentary calendars). He enjoyed passing out calendars to all he knew, as well as kind people he encountered along the way—giving the recipients an unexpected surprise, followed by delight and an incredulous smile.

His children will miss his Sunday night phone calls to check in and let his kids know he was thinking of them and what he was up to. His tattered phone book was scribbled with the numbers of family and old friends. His landline phone number is so old that in Pleasant Valley it proceeded the deployment of area codes.

Alvin was a member of the congregation of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church. In later years, as his mobility decreased from Ataxia, he found solace in reading his King James Bible and devotional writings. These readings and reflection helped Alvin accept his condition and shape his expectation of the salvation in Christ that would accompany his passing.

He helped start the local Kansas City group of the Ataxia Foundation and provided encouragement, support, and inspiration to other persons suffering from this neuromuscular disease.

On Thursday, December 28, a Visitation is scheduled for 1:00 pm with a Celebration of Life to follow at 2:00 pm (graveside service weather permitting) at D.W. Newcomer’s Sons White Chapel Funeral Home and Cemetery - 6600 NE Antioch Road, Gladstone, Missouri 64119. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Alvin’s life.

Donations will be gladly accepted to support National Ataxia Foundation, https://www.ataxia.org/donate/ or Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, https://www.komen.org/how-to-help/donate/

The family would like to thank the staff of Liberty Hospital, North Kansas City Hospital Rehab, and the NorthCare Hospice House.