Merrill Jay Whitman

Whitman, Merrill Jay, Age 68, died from complications of a serious illness on the morning of February 25, 2014, at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. Jay was born on August 25, 1945, to Patricia Jean Walter and Merrill Joseph Whitman, at an earlier incarnation of the same hospital. He graduated in 1963 from Fairfax (Virginia) High School, where he ran track and edited the literary magazine. Like his parents, he attended the University of Michigan, where he earned three degrees, a B.A. in Philosophy (1967), a J.D. from the Law School (1970), and a Ph.D. in Philosophy (1973). Jay was one of the earliest joint degree candidates. At Michigan, he met his wife, Christina (Chris) Brooks Whitman, who is now a professor at the Michigan Law School. After graduation, Jay joined the General Counsel's Office of the International Union, UAW, to put Chris through law school. Inspired by his teacher, Theodore St. Antoine, Jay was dedicated to the labor movement and passionately served working people at the UAW for his entire legal career. While there he argued several cases before the United States Supreme Court, served as a trusted advisor to many UAW Presidents beginning with Leonard Woodcock, and provided boundless inspiration, wisdom, kindness and leadership to his colleagues in the UAW General Counsel's office for more than 35 years. Jay retired in 2010 as Deputy General Counsel. He loved Ann Arbor, University of Michigan hockey and basketball, fly fishing, gear and gadgets, nonfiction, and Washtenaw Dairy doughnuts. Jay was deeply ethical and fiercely intelligent. He was a voracious researcher, meticulous keeper of information, both significant and trivial, and a mountain of stability and security for his family, in whom he took enormous pride. Preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Patricia, Jay survives in the hearts and thoughts of his wife; his aunt Walda Whitman Hura (Paul), his brother, Walter Jon Whitman (Katherine); his children, Claire Brooks Whitman (Dan Persinger) and Emma Brooks Whitman Hague (David Hague); his amazing grandchildren, Charles Brooks Whitman Persinger and Henry Jay Whitman Persinger; and many nieces and nephews. Arrangements by Muehlig Funeral Chapel. A memorial service will be held in May at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Ann Arbor, where Jay was baptized. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the University of Michigan Law School