William George Whittaker: – [Heath 1945–1951]
William lived at Well Royd as a boy. On leaving school he joined the Halifax Building Society and after four years joined an Australian Bank in the City. In 1961 he found employment with a South Western Building Society, first as a Branch Manager and later as Mortgage Manager at their Head office. During this period he played rugby for Warlingham in Surrey. However, for him the streets of London were not paved with gold and in 1964 he joined the Probation Service in Staffordshire, and later in Cornwall. He became Senior Probation Officer in Plymouth with responsibility for a Student Unit, and finished his Probation career in North Devon.
He became unhappy at changes in Probation Policy and left to take over the management of a Family Mediation Service in Barnstaple until his final retirement in 2000, when he moved back to Cornwall. He enjoyed watching cricket and rugby and was a voracious reader. He died on 16th August, 2015, after a short illness, leaving a wife, three sons, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
My husband was interested to read about old school friends and I hope this obituary will be of interest to others.
Liz Whittaker
Our condolences to Liz and the family.