Dennis Whatley, 105; One of Last Surviving ‘Doughboys’ of WWI

Dennis Whatley, one of the last survivors of the 4.3 million American “doughboys” who served in World War I, has died at the age of 105.

Whatley died Friday at Cypress Gardens nursing home in Riverside, said Robert W. Johnson, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who serves as adjutant of the California Veterans of World War I.

Whatley enlisted in Cody, Wyo., in May 1918. As a private first class in the 135th Infantry Regiment of the American Expeditionary Force, he shipped out to France and marched for more than 20 days to reach the front lines.

But with fortuitous timing, he arrived too late to see any action. Armistice ended “the war to end all wars” on Nov. 11, 1918, and Whatley’s most vivid memory of his foreign wartime service was a leave in Paris.

Johnson said Whatley shaved with his Army-issue razor for the remainder of his life.

Born in Higbee, Colo., the third of 13 children, Whatley grew up working on a farm. After the war, he worked on Colorado railroads and became a boilermaker.

In 1942, at the onset of another war, Whatley moved his family to Southern California and spent the rest of his working life as a boilermaker in the Long Beach shipyards.

He was among two dozen World War I veterans on hand on Nov. 11, 1993, at the Long Beach Veterans Administration Medical Center to observe the 75th anniversary of the Great War’s end. The veterans received copies of the Victory Medals that had been given to soldiers at the Nov. 11, 1918, armistice. The commemorative medals were presented as part of a national effort by the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation of Chicago to recognize the doughboys.

Whatley also attended Veteran’s Day ceremonies last year in West Los Angeles when then-Mayor Richard Riordan saluted him, saying: “He’s ready to fight the next war.” Whatley raised his arms in acknowledgment.

Widowed in 1998 after 79 years of marriage, Whatley is survived by two sons, Charles and Frank; one daughter, Madeline; 11 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

A funeral Mass is scheduled at 11 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Riverside, following by burial at 1:15 p.m. in Riverside National Cemetery.

The family has asked that any contributions be sent to the American Cancer Society.