Gary Lee Whaley

Gary Lee Whaley, May 20, 1935 – October 20, 2015 He worked in the Apollo Space Program to put a man on the moon, and would go on to become the Vice President at one of San Diego's largest defense contractors. Gary Lee Whaley was born on May 20, 1935, in depression era Ironton, Ohio. His family's home and humble possessions washed down the Ohio River in the Great Flood of 1938. Seeking a better life, he moved to SanDiego as a teenager with his mother and his aunt Helen and Uncle Lucky. He attended San Diego High School while working at Bimbos furniture, where he first learned his negotiation skills. He put himself through San Diego State University while working as an engineering intern at Convair Astronautics. At Convair, he would meet his future wife Kathryn, a typist in the Product Support Department. They married in 1958 in Pacific Beach. At age 30, with 4 young children at home, Gary went back to night school at City College to study contracts administration and would become involved in the burgeoning Apollo Space Program at Convair. As a result, the family relocated to Coco Beach Florida for the Apollo-Saturn launch vehicle testing, and then on to Rochester New York before returning to San Diego in 1971. They purchased a lovely home in Bay Park with one of the most spectacular bay, downtown, and ocean views in the city, where they raised all 5 of their children. He would eventually be recruited by Walter Zable at Cubic Corporation where he worked as Contracts Director for the Western Data Division, which specialized in fare collection systems. He would climb to become Vice President in Cubic's Defense Division where he earned a reputation as a problem solver of the impossible —adroitly extinguishing complex contract disputes as the only non-attorney in a room of amazed attorney peers. A lifelong baseball fan, he was nurtured by his Grandma Hopstetter's streetcar rides to the knothole section at Cincinatti's Crosley Field. He was a lifelong Reds fan and a diehard Padres Fan. He coached his sons' ball teams, and led the local Balboa Little League and Senior League to post season and All Star regional championships. He loved teaching his adept knowledge of the game and the underlying strategy, of which he was a master. An expert negotiator, he made hundred-million dollar business deals with the Saudi , Singapore, and Hong Kong governments for Cubic Corporation. He also used those master negotiating skills to buy and sell antiques, his lifelong hobby. Together with his wife, their passion turned into a hobby business known as Sign of the Whale Antiques, a fixture in Bay Park Village for nearly 20 years. Specializing in Arts and Crafts period American furniture and pottery, they cultivated one of the finest collections in the country. He also had an extensive collection of scale-model Mercedes toy automobiles. A world traveler, his favorite city was London and its theater district. He was preceded in death by his Mother, Marie Cornwell of El Cajon, and his in-laws, William and Virgina Eddings of Pacific Beach. He is survived by his beloved wife, Kathryn of 55 years of Pacific Beach, his sister, Susan J. Harper and husband Michael Harper, his son Michael C. Whaley of San Diego, son Gary S. Whaley of San Diego, son Kevin M. Whaley of Santee, daughter Cindy K. Whaley Shelton and husband Carl Chris Shelton of San Diego, Daughter Sarah Marie Whaley Mc Clean and Husband Nathan Mc Clean of Murrieta; and his grandchildren, Julliane Kathryn Shelton, Marie Grace Shelton, Christopher Aaron Shelton, Autumn Virginia Whaley, Avalon Jane Whaley, Samuel Lee McClean, and Emma Marie McClean. Viewing: Pacific Beach Mortuary, Tuesday, October 27th, 6-8pm with Rosary at 7:00, Funeral Mass: St. Brigid Church, Pacific Beach, Wednesday, October 28th 9 am, Burial to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery at 11:00AM. Donations are suggested to Father Joe's Villages, https://my.neighbor.org/donate/