William Cory Whisler
March 31, 1929 - July 9, 2024

William Cory Whisler, CAPT. USNR (Ret.) passed away on July 9, 2024, at age of 95, at his place of residence in Des Moines, WA. surrounded by his family. Bill was a loving Husband, Grandfather, Great-Grand Father, Uncle, Brother and a Friend to many.

Mr. Whisler was born in Palo Alto, CA on March 31, 1929, the youngest son of George and Helen Whisler, of Palo Alto. He attended grammar schools in Palo Alto and Iowa City, IA. In 1947 he graduated from high school in Salinas, CA. In 1949 he graduated from Hartnell College in Salinas, where he was captain of the basketball team and all-conference center. With the receipt of an athletic scholarship, Bill transferred to Oregon State College, in Corvallis, OR. Bill played basketball and studied forestry for one year.

During the summers of 1948 & 1949 he worked at the Flying B Ranch in Ellensburg, WA., which was managed by this brother-in-law Stewart Bledsoe and Bill's sister, Betsy. During this time Bill met his first wife, the former Karen Klopfenstein of Tacoma, WA.

After a year at Oregon State, with the outbreak of the Korean War, Bill joined the Navy. He entered into flight training at Pensacola, FL where he received his Wings of Gold in 1952. ( his older brothers George and Bud, as well as Stewart Bledsoe had also been Naval Aviators).

In 1952 he married Karen Klopfenstein and was assigned by the Navy to the Pacific Fleet with Fighter Squadron 63 (VF-63), where he flew jet fighters from NAS Alameda and off several aircraft carriers.

In 1955 Bill was discharged from active duty and moved his family to Seattle, where he joined the Naval Reserve at NAS Seattle and entered the University of Washington College of Engineering. In 1957 he joined the Boeing Company in B-52 Flight Test, and in 1959 graduated from UW in Mechanical Engineering.

His Naval Reserve career continued in Attack Squadron 892 (VA-892) for nine years, then he transitioned to Air Anti-Submarine Squadrons at Seattle and NAS Whidbey Island, where he was Commanding Officer of Air Anti-Submarine Squadron 83 (VA-83). The last take-off and landing of his 23-year Naval career was from the deck of the USS Ticonderoga,(CVA-14), off the coast of San Diego. He retired from the Navy at Whidbey Island, with the rank of Captain.

While at Boeing, he was transferred to the Wind Tunnel Staff as a design engineer in 1961. He continued at the Wind Tunnel as Designer, Lead Engineer, and Supervisor of several Model Design and Laboratory Operations groups. His military work ranged from the B-52 and Dyna-Soar, Minuteman, TRX, SRAM, CX, F-111, AMSA, Star Wars Lasers, AWACS (707,747), and Harpoon Missile. Civilian work from the 707 through the 777, plus SST, and the Space Shuttle. Facility design included BHWT, BSWT, BTWT, Icing Tunnel Technical Manager, plus New Wind Tunnel design concepts. He retired from Boeing in 1994.

Mr. Whisler was active in community affairs as well. He served as an elected City Councilman in Des Moines, WA from 1976 through 1989, where he was Chair of the Public Safety and Environment Committees. He was active in dealing with Sea-Tac airport noise issues for 25 years and served on several committees with the Port of Settle.

His most significant accomplishments in airport noise was as a negotiator on the Sea-Tac Noise Mediation Committee, which reached a noise agreement with the airport and airlines after 18 months of intense negotiations, a first in the United States. Mr. Whisler represented citizens of Auburn Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Normandy Park, Vashon Island and much of south King County.

As the Chair of the Des Moines Environment Committee, Mr. Whisler represented the citizens of Des Moines and Kent during negotiations with the City of Seattle on the Midway Landfill Closure Project. Resulting from the effort, Bill was appointed to the King County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, where he served from 1986 through 1992, finishing as Chair in his final year.

Bill's retirement activities included:

°Learned to fly a glider with the Boeing Soaring Club, receiving his glider license in 1995 at age of 65.
°Volunteer bus driver for Wesley Homes retirement center, since 1994
°Helped his kids as baby sitter, carpenter, painter, electrician and handyman.
°In 1997 was elected President of Retired Aero Testing Society (RATS), a group of over 115 retired employees of the Boeing Wind Tunnel.
°Since 1994 visited the elderly in the Judson Park Health Center.
°Since 2000, was a mentor at the Des Moines Elementary School.
°During Bill's time at Judson Park Retirement Center, he was very involved in a variety of capacities. Bill was on the Resident Council, his many roles were: Action Team Chairperson, Council Vice President and Council President throughout the years. Bill also was the primary point of contact for the Judson Park Woodshop, where he spent many hours creating model aircraft. Bill was very active in the Veteran's Day celebrations, and Bill participated in Judson Parks Arts and Collectibles shows, sharing is talent for creating model airplanes.

In 1990 he married Mary J. Kuczynski, of Tooele, UT and Normandy Park, WA. Mr. Whisler is survived by his wife Mary, daughter Wendy and son-in-law Alex of Cle Elum WA, son Rych and daughter-in-law Victoria of Enumclaw, WA, Kimberley and son-in-law Kim of Kingston, WA, son Doug and daughter-in-law Penny of Burien, WA and son Mac and daughter-in-law Shannon of Fairbanks, AK. He is also survived by 8 grandchildren and 2 great-grand children, plus one great-grand child on the way.


Bill contributed to the following organizations over the years. If you would like to make a contribution, please consider:
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center www.fredhutch.org
Seattle Museum of Flight www.museumofflight.org

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