James Alan Whanger

July 16, 2023, James Alan Whanger, Jim, loosed his hold of his wife’s hand for Jesus’ and followed Him to a new heavenly home. James was born December 23, 1961, to Raymond and Thelma (Gifford) Whanger in Linwood Kansas. He was the fifth child of six in his family. Jim brought joy and cheer with him everywhere he went.

Jim attended Ava High school in Ava Missouri, Pueblo Community College in Colorado and Eastern Washington University. He was brilliant and business minded yet still deeply humble. His colleagues and family continually learned from him. He was a good teacher speaking unpretentiously and without arrogance.

Living a farm life growing up, he didn’t have the easiest childhood and experienced adversities. He chose joy and happiness as his outlook and didn’t dwell on how, at times, growing up was tough. He loved his dad, but most especially his momma. As a young adult, he left home younger than most. He had been robbed, been homeless in California, and never broke character. Despite the circumstances he found himself in at the time, he practiced integrity and comported himself with an excellent moral compass. Even as Cerebral Palsy, Diabetes, and Non-alcoholic Liver Failure weakened his body the past seven years, his optimistic outlook never wavered.

As a child, Jim received Jesus as his Savior and grew in his faith as he walked daily with God to his very last breath. He was not perfect; his transparency in his humanness endeared him to many. Even in his imperfections, he loved Jesus so and strived to live for Him. He had a strong conviction to love and take care of his family. At six-foot five inches tall, he was truly a gentle giant; and every inch a southern gentleman. He was a powerful, strong-minded man that knew how to comport himself with emotional empathy, meekness and kindness; however, he stood firmly in defense of his family. He was intentional about making and evaluating goals for his spiritual, marriage, family, work, and community life yearly; writing them down for reflection. He achieved many of those goals.

He adored his children; he was a big one at heart. He would buy toys often, mostly for his kids, but he enjoyed them too. He often played his son’s video games after tucking him in for the night to help get past difficult levels. He would regularly sing songs of affirmation to brighten his mornings while brewing black coffee and listening to recordings of Pastors Ken Ortiz or Greg Laurie. He regularly sang You Are My Sunshine to his wife, Christy. He was a vibrant and captivating storyteller, filling time in the evenings through creating bedtime stories for his children to treasure. He spent hours over the years telling stories, listening to band practice, being at drama performances, debate team, and going over homework. He faithfully taught his kids about Jesus by his example and took them to church; he was a part of Calvary Spokane. He prayed nightly at dinner and bedtime for his children, stepchildren, and step-grandkids that they would be happy, find their calling in life and pursue it, and that they wouldn’t be deceived by the world. He strived to be a good father, advisor, provider, and leader for them to help them reach their achievements.

His career with Raytheon Technologies, formerly Goodrich Corporation, spans over 41 years, starting October 1980 in California, where he joined as a Floor Manufacturer. His manufacturing experience was with carbon brakes for aircraft. Through dedication and wit, he progressed up the chain of command, eventually becoming a major part of opening the next two carbon facilities in Colorado and Spokane. Through UTC Aerospace Systems, an extension of Raytheon Technologies, the facilities he helped build supplied carbon brakes for Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Global, Learjet, Cessna, the Space Shuttle and the military’s F16 to name a few. During his career, he relocated for the start-up of two Goodrich carbon facilities that he helped facilitate the opening of. He spent over twenty years working in management positions with increasing levels of responsibility and was for a while in charge of seven different divisions at once. Since 2004, his role was as a Continuous Improvement Site Leader here in Spokane. He achieved certification for Lean Practitioner, Six Sigma Green Belt and Statistical Process Control and used the Lean tools daily. He also received Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) certification from Marshall Institute.

Serving the Lord through community service was important to Jim. He formally held the position as Chair of the Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest Board of Directors and Chair of the Goodwill Executive Committee. He also served as a board member of the Goodwill Planning and Mission Development Committee. Jim was also a member of the Inland Northwest Lean Management Consortium (LMC) board for approximately five years. He had recently made new friends at the non-profit Project ID and was prayerfully discerning if the Lord wanted him to serve there.

The family that met him in Glory are: his parents; his sister-in-law, Karen Whanger; Niece Sheila Ingle, and step-child Jesse Svenonius.

Jim lives on through his children, Elliott and Elsa Whanger and their mother Carmen Caldwell; his siblings and their families: Walter Whanger, Margaret Ingle, Frances Whanger, Charles Whanger and Bruce Whanger; his wife, Christy Heston and her kids Micah, Sara, and Moriah Svenonius, and her grands Naomi and Benjamin.

Jim’s laughter bounced off the back wall; he knew how to flip a bad mood and could strike up conversation with anyone. He was wildly compassionate, donating not just monetarily, but his time. He could regularly be found buying food for homeless people then chatting with them for a while. Even in the twilight of his life, he was adored by other care facility patients for the childlike delight he’d spread through the space. Father, husband, Chief’s fan, watch repairer, small business owner, YMCA instructor, redneck, card collector, follower of Jesus,

dear, sweet Jim, what an indelible mark you have left on this world!

The family invites you to a celebration service on Saturday, September 16, at 1:00 p.m., at Calvary Spokane, 511 W Hastings Rd, Spokane, WA 99218.

Jim not only believed in giving his finances to God but his time also. In lieu of flowers, volunteer time or monetary contributions can be made to: Project ID, 3223 N. Marguerite Rd., Spokane, WA 99212.