Birth date: Jan 19, 1950 Death date: Sep 26, 2024
Robert Benjamin “Ben” Whittle passed away September 26, 2024, at his home in Newberry, Florida. Ben was born on January 19, 1950, to Robert Thompson Whittle and Pauline Herndon in Brunswick, Georgia. In his younger years he was a Read Obituary
Ben Whittle was one of my best friends for over 20 years. We talked almost every day. I will greatly miss Ben . May he rest in peace.
Bob Fowler
My name is Karl Weis. Ben and I became friends in Junior High School and seemed to have many classes together over the years at Jane Macon Junior HS and Glynn Academy HS. Due to our last names starting with "W" we always sat close to each other in classes and sat side-by-side on HS graduation night at the Jekyll Island Aquarama. We always found humor in everything and am sure our teachers thought about splitting us up many times because of all the laughing and joking we did when together. I think that is why our friendship lasted as long as it did even though after HS graduation we seldom saw each other. He went off to study at UGA and me at U of F. Then of course it was his time in the USAF that brought Adelina into his life and that sure did help stabilize him. I found the love of my life Beverly and we followed the construction of Nuclear Power plants from coast to coast for several years. After Ben and Adelina moved to Gainesville Florida, I really did not have any real communications with him for a while. However when he sent me a picture post card showing the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the U of F (unsigned I must add as to who the sender was!) I was scratching my head when I thought "Wait a minute. This odd cursive style of handwriting sure looks familiar so I broke out the old HS annual and matched the card message with the entries there. That left handed backward slanted cursive handwriting was the give-away! The mystery was solved and when I got in touch with him and told him how I had to be "Sherlock Holmes" to figure out it was him, we had a good laugh!!! We then decided to at least see each other each year at the Gator nationals Drag Races in Gainesville Fl. and have a meal together. He did love the food at "Red Lobster" and the High Springs restaurant the "Great Outdoors". The Glynn Academy HS Reunions were another venue we enjoyed seeing how the Class of '68 had "aged gracefully"! We made some good memories together but they are cut short way too soon. I thank God for the friendship I had with Ben and still have with Adelina. Ben was so good to remember our Daughter Anna and Granddaughter Emma each year. They feel the loss of "Uncle Ben" as well. Rest in Peace Brother Ben. – Your Friend Karl
My name is George Minasian. I met Ben in 1972 at Randolph AFB, Texas, our first assignment out of tech school. He was my first room mate in the barracks. I enlisted from Massachusetts and Ben from Georgia. We hit it off right from the start. I drove a VW Beetle and he a yellow Camaro. Ben introduced me to pork rinds and and hot sauce which I eventually acquired a taste for. We didn't have such things up north. He was in the administration field and I was in supply. We found a pub just off the base in Universal City where we would have a beer or two and play pool. We had many good times and lots of laughs. Eventually we both got married (our first marriages) and moved out of the barracks and off base and lost contact of each other.
Then one day, some years later, while I was sitting in Airman Leadership School on Lackland, AFB and who walked through the door? Ben. We both had a few more stripes and a lot to catch up on. But we both changed assignments, lost touch again, and gained another stripe or two and he got a commission as an officer. We didn't meet again until we both got assignments to South Korea. He in Seoul and I to Osan Air Base. He had remarried and so had I. He to Adelina and I to Yongae whom I met while in Korea. We visited in Seoul and caught up once again.
We both retired from the Air Force, he at 20 years and I at 24. I returned to my home town in Massachusetts and he moved to Florida after an assignment at the Pentagon and I from F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming.
From that point on we kept in touch, by email and telephone over the years and exchanged holiday cards. Ben kept me in supply of pork rinds and hot sauce over the years. We visited Ben and Adelina on our way back from Disney and they were the best hosts. And they visited us in Massachusetts and our camp in New Hampshire.
I will miss my buddy Ben and will always cherish the times we spent together. He was generous, had a great sense of humor, and a kind soul.
They, Ben & Ed, will be together.
