William Paul "Bill" Whittaker
Marriages
Kris (Greenman) Whittaker
Obituaries
Vail Daily page A9 - May 9, 2020
Bill is survived by his wife, Kris Whittaker, Mother, Joyce Reiche (Amichaux), and extended family. Full obituary to follow.
Vail Daily page A19 - May 15, 2020
Bill Whittaker was a Colorado native, born in Glenwood Springs, and raised outside of Eagle on Brush Creek.
Bill graduated from Eagle Valley High School in 1971. While in high school he played football, basketball & was always a straight A student (of course he was). After graduation Bill went on to explore life and had many adventures and jobs.
He loved spending time in the outdoors: camping, hiking, backpacking, cave exploring, and mushroom hunting. Bill also loved playing poker and traveling. He was an avid reader and interested in current events. Bill had a great sense of humor and fun loving spirit.
Immediately after high school Bill wanted to leave his small home town, he moved to Denver and worked in a brick factory. The grass was not greener. He then enlisted and served in the United States Air Force and National Guard.
Bill spent a season skiing and working as a lift operator for Vail Resorts. He worked as a rough neck in the oil fields of Alaska and when he moved back to Colorado he spent a couple years working the Whittaker family ranch on Bruce Creek until a back injury prevented him from continuing.
Bill was an accomplished carpenter and helped build some of the early homes in Beaver Creek and Avon. One day at work building a home next to President and Mrs. Ford's home, Mrs. Ford asked his boss at that time if he knew anyone who could plant her flower boxes. Bill said "I can do that"
That was the beginning of Whittaker Landscape Services. Bill started his company in 1984 with a thousand dollar loan and a Chevy Luv pickup. His "crew" consisted of himself and 3 family members.
Bill was a self-taught landscape architect. He was a perfectionist and had the ability to "see" what the finished product would look like. He designed, and his crew(s) installed countless projects from East Vail to Gypsum , Meeker, Colorado and Saratoga, Wyoming. He took great pride in every project he completed . Bill always said he had the best group of guys in the valley working for him. He has several employees who have been with the company 25 plus years.
Bill's family wishes to express heartfelt gratitude to the Serna, Garcia, Carillo, and Villeges families, and all the other employees through the years whose hard work and dedication were instrumental in building his business into what it is today. And, for all of the support of these same people through this difficult time.
Bill was preceded in death by his father, William Von Whittaker; brother, Steven Wayne Whittaker; Grandparents, Gordon and LaVeta (Randall) Whittaker, Archie and Bertha (Hoffman) Amichaux.
He is survived by Mother, Joyce Whittaker Reiche (Amichaux) wife, Kris (Greenman) Whittaker, stepdaughter, Michaela (Noel) Long (Mike Long), stepson, Kraig Noel, granddaughters , Alexis Noel and Alison Long, sisters, Kendra Whittaker (Don Weber) Vanda Whittaker (John Evancho) stepsisters Paulana (Reiche) Craft (Dave) and Linda Reiche, stepbrother, Kirt Reiche, numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles.
Bill was a good man, he always did his best to "do the right thing". We will miss him tremendously.
Bill sustained fatal injuries in a fall that occurred outside at his home on Brush Creek.
In lieu of flowers please make a donation in his name to a charity of your choice and help a fellow human whenever you can., Date of Memorial service to be announced.
Vail Daily - July 6, 2020
Eagle Public Library announced that the small park on the southside of the Eagle building will be named Bill Whittaker Park. The posthumous honor recognizes Whittaker's work designing the park, and his generosity in providing much of the work at cost as well as donating quite a few extra trees, plants, rocks and other items that were outside of the district's budget.
Whittaker was an avid reader who frequented the Eagle Public Library and had taken care of the landscaping around it for years. He was very interested in doing the work on the pocket park, which was a part of the building renovation and expansion project in 2019. After winning the bid, Whittaker came to a building project steering committee meeting and began to draw out his ideas for the space on a blank sheet of paper. He had seen the original design drawings and didn't think the proposed vegetation would be affordable or would survive the climate of Eagle.
"Everyone loved his ideas and the work resulted in the lovely small park that will now bear his name," said Linda Tillson, director of the Eagle Valley Library District.
The park features meandering stone step paths, perennial beds, shrubs to attract butterflies and birds, and a variety of trees and boulders for relaxing. The library loves using it for warm-weather storytimes on the lawn. During the pandemic, it offers plenty of space for families to safely distance themselves while enjoying stories and songs.
"We welcome you to visit and enjoy this beautifully landscaped space designed by Bill," said Tillson.
A dedication ceremony is tentatively slated for sometime this fall. The Eagle Public Library is located at 600 Broadway Street in Eagle.
