Jared Whittlesey

It is with great sadness, we announce that Jared Whittlesey left us on May 27th 2026. He fought with illness for many years, and now his suffering is over.

Born November 14, 1947, in Seattle to parents Luther and Mary. He is survived by his wife, Mary Whittlesey, his daughter, Heather Read, and her husband Donovan. He will be deeply missed by his grandchildren, Cannon Whittlesey, Jared Read, as well as his great-granddaughters, Nova and Zola. He is also survived by his brothers, Mac and Henry Whittlesey and his son Travis.

Jared was an great athlete in his younger days. He was best at racquet ball. He usually won. He played with many of his friends, who swore that they would never play with him again. He was that good, and always played to win. He played football in high school. He was in a basketball and volley ball league on Guam, which won many trophies.

He had a great, dry sense of humor, which will be very much missed. He always called a jerk, a jerk. He was liked by people he met in the community, especially if they were also in the military. He loved to talk to his fellow military service members.

Mary and Jared had been together since they met at Bremerton High School. They have been together since September of 1967. They were married after high school and were together ever since.

He was stationed in many ports and on ships on the west and east coast. He went to Guam with Mary where his only son was born. His daughter was born on Whidbey Island. He went to an island in the Indian ocean called Diego Garcia for a year, without his family. We missed him so much during that year. He traveled quite a bit, and we always missed him when he was gone. At one point in his career, the navy required that he shave off his beard. When he came home, his daughter cried and cried because he didn't look like her dad anymore. He was an electronics technician with 28 years in the navy when he retired.

Jared was a Mason and the secretary for 10 years for the William H. Upton Lodge. His lodge did many charitable works during that time. His brothers at the lodge missed him dearly when he had to quit due to health issues.

He spent a great deal of his life at sea. His last ship was the Texas, which was decommissioned in Bremerton. We love and miss him, but feel like he’s not entirely gone from us. He's just gone back to sea.