John Henry Whitted, Jr.'s Obituary
John Jr. heard the Voice of Jesus saying “Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “Take my yoke upon you, and lean on Me; for I am meek and lonely in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your soul. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”John Henry Whitted, Jr. was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on December 6, 1938 to the union of the late John Henry Whitted, Sr. and late Leoda Jaurniece Smith Whitted. At the age of two, John’s parents moved to San Diego, California. He and his only sibling, Constance Gertie Whitted Tipton (who preceded him in death) had a wonderful childhood growing up in the sunshine of Southern California. They lived in a suburb of San Diego, Linda Vista. John Jr. as he was affectionately called by family and friends, and his sister Connie as kids explored the entire landscape of Linda Vista, played in the surrounding canyons adjacent to their home, and caught crab and tadpoles in the swampy waters of nearby Mission Valley.John accepted God at an early age. He was christened in the Catholic Church. He was a perennial student of the Bible and owned numerous different versions, even the Koran. He devoted a portion of his day to studying the Bible. On his many hospital stays he would always take his Bible and his dictionary. He was fond of saying “you can’t understand the Bible without a dictionary.” Although he possessed many versions of the Bible by many faiths, he confessed that the King James Version was his favorite.John Jr. went to Linda Vista Elementary School, Montgomery Junior High School, Kearny Senior High School and San Diego High School where he graduated in 1957. Years later, he attended Pepperdine University to get his Bachelors Degree. After graduation from High School, he immediately enlisted in the United States Air force. He was a Radar Technician and Repairman, stationed upon one of the highest snow-capped mountains in the Philippines.While serving in the Air force John met his longtime friend Joe James (deceased) and began Godfather to Joe’s first son, John Anthony Wayne James. During his time in the Air Force he received several awards and commendations including: Good Conduct Medal; Longevity Service Award, Bronze Oakleaf Cluster and a Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon. He was honorably discharged November, 1966 at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.In 1967 John went to work for General Electric Company. In the early seventies, he had the distinction of being on the medical imaging team that installed the first Scan machine in Los Angeles, California at County General Hospital. He left GE to work for Tobshia America. He was instrumental in introducing several young men who were Electrical Engineers to work at Tobshia including: Roy Samuels, Jerry Brenklin, Randy Branch and Tegran Syepremian. John was widely regarded as being an expert in his field and highly respected. He was recruited by Phillips in 1980 as a Radiology Engineer specializing in Medical Imaging. John loved the outdoors and was always planning camping trips for his boys, their friends and his nephews and cousins. One of his most memorable trips with the boys was to Yosemite.John was an expert Archer, a long-bow and arrow was his favorite, although he possessed many different bows. He belonged to an African American Archery club, with other men who also excelled as Archers. Hunters. Oftentimes, he and his fellow members would take trips to the Channel Islands to shoot wild boar, as well as go the mountains in California and even Africa.He was a 32nd Degree Mason and belonged to Crescent Bay Lodge 19 in Santa Monica, California. At one time he served as the Worshipful Master. Prior to his death he did extensive research and was writing an article on the “Origin of Masonry”.John loved Family. He was determined to prove that the Smiths and Pearsons were descendants from the Choctaw Indians of Oklahoma. He left the research and his research materials to his niece, Tanya Collins and Cousin Anthony (Tony) Hawkins to complete.John is survived by his wife Rosana who were married in August, 1969, his step-children, L’Tanya Wright, Los Angeles, Ca.Troy Wright (Debbie) Edmonton, Alberta Canada, and Odis Campbell, San Diego, Ca. A daughter-in-law who he was very fond of, Sharon Campbell of San Diego, California. Nieces, Tanya Carroll (Alan) Alamogordo, New Mexico, Marcie Tipton, San Diego, Ca. Leoda Tipton, Kansas City, Kansas, and Nephew, Wayne Bell (Jessie), San Diego, California. Granddaughters, Skylise Campbell and Shay Morgan Campbell of San Diego, California and Kassidy Walker of Los Angeles, California. Grandsons, Justin Walker,( Marilee) Los Angeles, Tyler Whalen (Heather), Edmonton, Alberta Canada, Anthony Wright, Edmonton, Alberta Canada, Jamar Chavis, Grand Rapids, Michigan and Jermaine Campbell, Toronto Canada, and Grand God-son Joseph Gaspard, Los Angeles, California. Sisters-in-law, Gloria James, San Diego, California, Bettie Davis, San Diego, California, Linda Avery, San Diego, California, Arthur Buie Jr. (Lola) Chula Vista, California and brother-in-law, Clifford Tipton, Tulsa Oklahoma. He leaves a host of great grand children, grand nieces, nephews and cousins and dear friends to fondly remember him.
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