Justine I. Whalen

Justine I. Whalen, 88, of 1 Wanee Court, Johnson City died Tuesday, April 28, 2009 in the North Side Hospital. Mrs. Whalen was a native of Rocky Mount, NC and had lived in Tennessee for sixty-one years. She was a daughter of the late Jennis and Blanche Hedrick Strickland. Mrs. Whalen was a graduate of Blair High School in Silver Springs, MD. She married Thomas Hardy Whalen of St. Louis, MO on June 21, 1943. They were married at Fort Benning, GA. Mrs. Whalen worked during WW II with the British Air Commission in Washington, DC under Air Marshall Hill- a hero of the Battle of Britain. Later she worked with the Third Student Training Regiment, Infantry School, at Fort Benning, GA where she met her husband. While her husband was overseas as a General Staff Laision , Major with General Pattons 12th Corps,90th Division,3rd Army, (a.k.a. the 'Tough Hombres')Justine did volunteer work at Walter Reed Hospital. Tom and Justine Whalen also resided in Nashville and Memphis, TN. Tom Whalen was President of Western Textile Company in Memphis and Watauga Apparel of Johnson City. Tom was also Past-President of the American Apparel Manufacturers Association(AAMA) and a member of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the AAMA. Over the years, Mrs. Whalen did volunteer work with children, elderly, disabled, athletic and church groups. Some of the groups included the Newcomers Club, Monday Club, Council of Catholic Women, Madonna Circle, Memphis Athletic Club Youth Group, and Junior League. Mrs. Whalen was a member at St. Marys Catholic Church. She is preceded in death by: her parents; and her husband, Thomas Hardy Whalen, Sr. in 1992. Survivors include: her children, Thomas Hardy Whalen, Jr. of Ho Chi Minh City, (formerly Saigon) Vietnam, Sharon Ann Whalen of Baltimore, MD, Timothy Michael Patrick Whalen of Pottstown, PA, and John Kevin Whalen of the home; her siblings, Doris Strickland of Boco Raton, FL, Donald 'Red'? Byron of Silver Springs, MD, Betty Byron of Greensboro, NC, John Byron of Arlington, VA, and Patrick Byron of Silver Springs, MD; four grandchildren, Shawn Whalen Shinn, Estes Shane Whalen, Conan Whalen-McKain, and Justin Hardy Whalen; two great grandchildren, Shelby and Whalen Shinn. A graveside funeral service for Justine I. Whalen will be conducted at 2 PM Monday, May 4, 2009 at the Mountain Home National Cemetery. Deacon George Fredricks will officiate. Active pallbearers will be family members. Honorary pallbearers will be Julia Rusinol , Shirley Roth, Chris Davis, and the staff of First Tennessee Human Resource Agency. The family will receive friends at Morris-Baker from 4 to 6 PM Sunday. Everyone will meet at Morris-Baker at 1:30 PM Monday to go in procession to the cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family request that memorials be sent to Family Service Institute, First Tennessee Human Resource Agency, 2203 McKinley Road, Suite 210, Johnson City, TN 37604