USS LEXINGTON Former Crew Member

Name: Whitehill, Cassius Furman †

Service Dates: 1944-1946

Rank/Duty Assigned: Radarman Second Class

Description:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/bib/53886

Cassius Furman Whitehill, Jr

St. George, Utah

Cassius Furman Whitehill, Jr., best known as “Cash”, passed away peacefully in his sleep on December 3, 2014, in St. George, Utah, at the age of 91.

He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Elizabeth “Betty” Reichard Whitehill; daughter, Edana W. Hough; step-sons: John (Lorie) Hiltabiddle and Tom (Jeni) Hiltabiddle; as well as seven grandchildren: Chad (Kelley) Rial, Kristen (Matt) Odmark, Star (Ian) Grieve, Jessica Hough, Jason (Lorri) Hiltabiddle, Joshua (Sheila) Hiltabiddle; eleven great-grandchildren; brother, John “Jack” Whitehill and sister, Enid Spryn. He was predeceased by his parents: Cassius Furman Whitehill, Sr. and Josephine Cummings Cook; as well as a daughter, Jerene Jo Whitehill; and grandson, Jamie Hiltabiddle.

Cash was born in Franklin, PA, on June 22, 1923, and graduated from Franklin High School in 1941. He entered the U.S. Navy in April 1944 and was honorably discharged in May 1946. He served aboard the U.S.S. Lexington, CV-16 in the Pacific theater where he heard the explosion of two atomic bombs. Cash was aboard ship in Tokyo Bay when the peace treaty was signed. After his discharge he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He worked for Chicago Pneumatic Tool; taught at Montana State College in Bozeman, MT; was an engineering consultant in Paris, France; and retired from GrimmerSchmidt in 1989. Much of his career was spent on the ongoing development of the single screw compressor with its inventor, Bernard Zimmern.

Cash was an avid outdoorsman with a special love of hunting and fishing in both Western PA and Montana. He also pursued a lifetime love of skeet shooting and was instrumental in the founding of the Isaak Walton Club in Franklin, PA and the Purgatory Clay range outside of St. George, Utah. Friends and family are blessed to have his memoirs, “Most of It Was Fun”. He and two cousins published a family genealogy titled The Whitehills in America (Heroes and Heroines) spanning nearly 300 years.

Cash was well known as a faithful husband and father, an entertaining storyteller, a man of integrity and a steadfast friend. He will be deeply missed by all that knew and loved him.