John "Jack" Whiting, 82, passed away peacefully at his Middleburg home on May 26, 2018, after a long battle with congestive heart failure. Born in 1936 to Walter and Florence Whiting in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Jack graduated in 1957 from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Political Science. After completing military service in the U. S. Army in 1960, he joined the Foreign Service and served in a variety of postings overseas including Argentina, Iceland, Paraguay, Panama, Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas, and in mid-career, he did post-graduate work at the University of Texas.

Highlights of his thirty-year diplomatic career include his appointment as the first foreign service officer to be assigned the Panama Canal Company as the United States prepared to turn over the canal zone to the government of Panama; oversight of a U.S.-backed drug interdiction task force headed by Vice President George H. W. Bush in and around the Bahamas and the Caribbean; and the design and implementation of the official U.S/Organization of American States celebration of the sesquicentennial anniversary of U.S-Latin American diplomatic relations.

After retiring from the State Department in 1988 he worked as a consultant to The Conference Board, a business research group based in New York and Brussels. Beginning in 1998, Jack and his wife Meredith made their home near Marshall, where Jack served on the board of the Fauquier County Library, served on the County's economic development committee, and wrote and edited the Marshall Business and Residents News. The couple moved to Middleburg three years ago.

Jack will be remembered for his intellect, his puns, his fondness for history, stone walls, and warm fires, and his deep kinships with friends, neighbors, and dogs. Love of family was paramount -- expressed best when toasting "La Famiglia," which he did at every gathering.

Jack is survived by his wife Meredith Armstrong Whiting and the children of their combined families: Peter Whiting, Michael Whiting, Pam Whiting-Sysiuk, Holly Wood, Lucinda Armstrong, Eric Armstrong, Robert Armstrong, and India Armstrong, and their children. A private celebration of his life will be held at a future date. Persons interested in making memorial donations in his name are encouraged to do so either to the Diplomatic and Consular Affairs (DACOR-Bacon House) Foundation (dacorbacon.org), or to the Fauquier County Public Library (fauquierlibrary.org/support-the-library/)