Obituaries

Thurman Walter Whisner

Thurman Walter Whisner

1951-2022

Thurman Walter Whisner, PE, PS, age 71, of Great Cacapon, W.Va., died on Monday, July 25, 2022 at War Memorial Hospital.

Born January 29, 1951 on the family farm in Great Cacapon, he was the son of the late Earl Sylvester and Martha Juanita Steinbaugh Whisner.

He was a Christian.

Thurman was a 1969 class graduate of Berkeley Springs High School and a 1974 graduate of West Virginia Tech in Montgomery, W.Va., with a degree in civil engineering. He was a scholar and an athlete.

Thurman lettered in four sports at BSHS ­– football, baseball, track and wrestling. He played softball in his late fifties, winning many trophies over the years. Teams he played with won the state championship and also went to nationals. Thurman was a professional engineer, at one time registered in West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia.

He was also a professional surveyor. During his engineering career, he worked for the West Virginia Department of Highways. Most recently he worked as a bridge evaluation engineer for District 5 which consists of seven eastern panhandle counties. Thurman also worked at one time for W.M. Schlosser Construction as a quality control engineer on the Wheaton Metro Project. He was awarded a letter of commendation for the best Quality Control Program on the Metro System at that time. Thurman worked for Michael Baker Engineering northwest of Pittsburgh, Pa., where he inspected many bridges and helped design many of them. The famous Weirton-Stubenville Bridge over the Ohio River is one of his most beautiful. He was proud to have headed up many bridge inspections over the years, the most notable, The New River Gorge Bridge. Thurman is the only engineer to ever climb it to inspect it. Thurman also inspected many double wide home foundations in the area and he was the local expert on designing local private bridges and the foundations for homes in the flood plain. He was a big teddy bear, loved by all who knew him.

Thurman is survived by his wife of 48 years, Karen Elaine Nelson Whisner, at home; his children, David Alan Whisner and his wife, Angel, of Hagerstown, Md., Michelle Marie Whisner Bishop, of Inwood, W.Va.; his brother, Earl Junior “Smiley” Whisner, of Great Cacapon; his grandchildren, Breauna Jade Farris and her boyfriend, Michael MacCumbee, of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., Mary Elizabeth Bishop and her boyfriend, Jordan Delinski, of Gerrardstown, W.Va., Arman Alexander Bishop and his girlfriend, Hayley Bivens, of Inwood, W.Va., Allegra James, of Philadelphia, Pa., and Mekiah James, of Hagerstown, Md. He had a great love for Barb Miller, who he called his little sister.

A Celebration of Life service was conducted at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 30, at Helsley-Johnson Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 95 Union Street, Berkeley Springs, W.Va., with Pastor Dave Kidwell officiating. Burial will be private.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.helsleyjohnsonfh.com.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Thurman’s memory may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959.