James Hunter Whiteside

Jim was born in 1924 in Tacoma to Vera and Harlow Whiteside. Raised in Seattle with his brother, Ray, he attended Lincoln High School where he was an All-City basketball point guard. At WSU he became a member of Phi Delta Theta. When the war started, he volunteered for the Naval Officer Training program and attended Columbia and the U of W. Jim joined the Frog Man Program (now called Seals) and trained in underwater demolition in several beach areas, ending with his team receiving orders and a position in Tokyo Bay for the invasion of Japan but then the bomb was dropped.

Returning to WSU he met and married Shirley Rasch in 1948. Jim worked in sales in Seattle and Spokane before buying a ServiceMaster franchise and starting Whiteside Cleaning in Yakima, owning that business for over 25 years.

Great personal charm, an unending sense of humor, and a desire to help others quickly gathered a group of lifelong friends, adding new friends all along the way. Breakfasts with Fred and Charlie, practical jokes with neighbors, and dinners where politics were openly debated were mainstays for him.

His zeal for community service led him to chair many campaigns as Yakima County Chairman for Slade Gorton and John Spellman. He also chaired the Yakima School Levy in 1971 which won by 82%. He was elected as State Representative in 1974 and served for 6 years with a passion to overcome the hurdles in establishing a Yakima Greenway, co-prime sponsoring the legislation which funded the study for this project. He also sponsored later bills which removed barriers to its construction.

While in Olympia, he was co-prime sponsor of the Washington Senior Citizens Act, which became a national model for senior citizen services.

After 6 years as Legislator, he realized that local needs were more pressing to him, including the future of the Greenways progress, which lay in the hands of the Yakima County Commission. He was elected to the Commission in 1990 and greatly enjoyed working with his fellow Commissioners who were of the other party and helping citizens of the county with their concerns. Later he also was appointed to the State Public Disclosure Commission, and to State Solid Waste Advisory Committee which he chaired, as well as other advisory appointments.

A tireless force for the Greenway, he served and led on the board for many years with scores of dedicated volunteers to fund raise in Yakimas generous community. He was determined that the Greenway be built without tax dollars. He was honored in 2005 by the Greenway Foundation with the establishment of the Jim Whiteside Preserve, a 140 acre river area near Union Gap.

Jims retirement gave him endless volunteer opportunities. He was recognized in 1997 as Volunteer of the Year in Washington State by the Nature Conservancy for his work with their Youth Education Program in public schools. He was a founding board member for Heritage College, supporting the concept that education brings us together. He was also a past member of Yakima Downtown Rotary, past member and chair of the Deacons of First Presbyterian Church, and a leader in Bible Study Fellowship. Most rewarding of all, he and Shirley also served as hospice volunteers. They worked together on steering committee for the creation of Cottage in the Meadow, where he and his family gratefully spent his last days here together.

Jim always enjoyed sports. He was Yakima Tennis Club president and a member of Yakima Country Club. But his prime interest was family time spent camping or hiking in the mountains especially Mt Rainier- and spending time at the ocean. He summited Mts Rainier, Adams and St. Helens. And any time that a child or grandchild was in an athletic or other event, he was there to cheer them on. In retirement, he also spent RV time on the road with Shirley.

He appreciated the care he received and the friendships he made at Avamere Englewood Heights the past two and a half years.

Jim and his wife Shirley of seventy years have five children: Dave Whiteside (Lynn) in Yakima, Carol Kiriluk (Larry) in Edmonds, Molly Archer (Harry) in Tacoma, Brian Whiteside (Cindy) in Bellevue, and Bruce Whiteside (Leslie) in Yakima, fourteen grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, May 10, 2019 at Grace of Christ Presbyterian Church (9 S. 8th Ave, Yakima, WA 98902) at 1:00pm. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Yakima River Greenway and sent in care of Brookside Funeral Home (PO Box 1267, Moxee, WA 98936), who is caring for the family.

Celebration of Life
Grace of Christ Presbyterian Church
Friday, May 10, 2019
1:00 PM
9 S 8th Ave
Yakima, Washington 98902