Obituary of Dana F. Whittaker

Dana F. Whittaker of 225 B. Wolf Run Road, passed away Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011 in the Buffalo General Hospital following a short illness. Dana was born on May 3, 1945 in Olean and was a son of Floyd and Dorothea Bancroft Whittaker. On March 29, 1980 in Richburg he married his wife Audrey J. Mosher, who survives. Dana was a 1963 graduate of Olean High School. He served in the US Army from Sept. 3, 1965 to August 30, 1968. Following his service he became a welder and worked for Air Pre-Heater in Wellsville for 10 years until 1980. He moved to Dayton Ohio in 1983 and worked in construction heating & air. He then worked as a welder at Franklin Iron & Metal for about 14 years. He went to work for his son, Michael, who owned "RSIG Security Company" for about 7 years before retiring in 2007 and moving back to the Olean area. Dana enjoyed playing Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. He truly enjoyed his family and especially his grandchildren. He was an avid Penn State and Buffalo Bills Football fan. Dana was proud to an American Veteran and he was very active member of the Tony Stein American Legion Post 619 in Dayton, Ohio where he served a total of 8 years as Commander. He was also a member of the VFW 431 and the Am Vets #24 in Dayton. In addition to his loving wife of 31 years are two sons, Michael C. (Kelly) Whittaker of Novi, Michigan, and Bradley A. (Caitlin) Whittaker of Carrollton, Georgia; two daughters, Tracy C. (Timothy) Gibson of Florence, Kentucky, and Kristie K. Whittaker of Dayton, Ohio; six grandchildren, Brittany, Madison, Kayla, Jade, Airiona and DaJuan; two brothers, Alvin Whittaker of Ischua, and Joel Whittaker of Tucson, AZ; two sisters, Alta McCoy of Olean, and Joan Cowles of Coudersport; his mother-in-law, Mable R. Sealy who lives with him; a sister-in-law, Barbara Whittaker of Olean; and several nieces & nephews including Terry Whittaker, who used to live with him. Dana was pre-deceased by two brothers Eugene & Vincent Whittaker. A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 at 1:30 pm in the Maplehurst Baptist Church. The Rev. Terry L. Jenks, Pastor, will officiate Burial will be in the McKean Memorial Park, Lafayette, Pa. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Make-A-Wish Foundation of Buffalo NY, 3901 Genesee St # 110 Buffalo, NY 14225-1901 Arrangements are under the direction of the Letro-McIntosh-Spink Funeral Home, Inc. #24 Genesee Pkwy, Cuba. www.letroMcIntoshSpinkFuneralHome.com .