Charles Richard “Rich” Whiston, a longtime resident of Santa Barbara, passed away on November 1, 2019 and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery on September 11, 2020. He was born on September 22, 1936 in Wuchang, Hupeh Province, China. Rich and his family (his father was an Episcopalian Clergy) escaped the bombing of China and fled to the Philippines after the outbreak of WWII. When the Philippines were bombed, they traveled by ship to Australia, through the Panama Canal and on to Massachusetts, where Rich attended the Groton School. He traveled with his family on the Queen Mary to England and then moved to Berkeley, California where he attended UC Berkeley, receiving a BA and J.D. from Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law; Rich also served in the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer. Rich was a partner in the Santa Barbara law firm of Mullen, McCaughey & Henzell; he left the firm to accept an appointment as Principal Deputy General Counsel and Chief of Legal Services, U.S. Army in the Pentagon from 1983-1985 and was honored to receive the U.S. Department of Army Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service. He returned to private law practice before moving again to Washington D.C. to serve as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs in July 2001. Rich escaped, by minutes, the 911 Pentagon attack and continued to serve as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army from October 2001 until August 2003.
Rich traveled extensively throughout his life, climbing Machu Picchu in his 70s, and travelled to Hong Kong and China to show his daughters where he was born and lived.
Rich won his first bout with cancer and fought the second occurrence with courage while playing weekly backgammon games, golf and working out five days a week throughout his cancer treatments. He continually stated how grateful he was – ŅI’ve had a great life!Ó – and expressing how lucky he felt to have such a wonderful family and friends. His presence is missed. Rich served on various Board of Directors including the Westmont College Foundation. In lieu of a service, Rich asked that his life be honored through donations to the Westmont College Whiston Endowment for Cancer Studies. Contributions to the Endowment may be made by contacting Westmont at 805-565-7083.
