Bernard “Barney” Richard Whitehill

Bernard “Barney” Richard Whitehill, 86, passed away peacefully March 29 with his family by his side in Petaluma, Calif.

He was born March 16, 1931, in Butler, where he was raised with three siblings, Mary, Georgeann and Simeon.

After attending Slippery Rock University, Barney transferred to Penn State University, where he was a member of the Theta Kappa Phi fraternity, graduating with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1952.

In the early years of his first marriage, to Barbara Stewart of California, Barney served in the U.S. Army as a Morse interceptor and was stationed in Fort Bragg, N.C. The Whitehills eventually moved from the East Coast to California, where they raised seven children.

In 1962, Barney began working for New York Life Insurance Co. in San Francisco. He met his wife, Constance Peterson, in 1983, and they were married in 1984.

During Barney's 40-year career as a life insurance agent, he held a Chartered Life Underwriters degree from the American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., was a member of New York Life's Chairman's Council, which was made up of their top agents in the country, and was a lifetime member of the insurance industry's Million Dollar Round Table. He was joined in the insurance business by his youngest daughter, Charlotte “Schatzi” Whitehill, in 1988.

In his retirement, Barney served on the board of the Suzie S. Thorn Family Foundation. He and Connie continued to spend many pleasant years traveling within the U.S. and Europe and enjoying the culture and food of the San Francisco Bay Area and the Napa and Sonoma wine country.

Barney was preceded in death by his parents, George Willard Whitehill and Mary Irene Doerr.

He is survived by his wife, Constance Peterson; three siblings, Mary Daum Whitehill of New York, Georgeann Hitzel of New Jersey and Simeon Whitehill of Pennsylvania; his seven children, George, Mary, Theresa, Paul, Charlotte, Charles and Andrew; 10 grandchildren; and Barbara Mooney, his first wife and mother of his children.

He will be dearly missed by his family, friends, associates and all who knew him.

His family especially wishes to thank Hospice of Petaluma for their sensitive and caring help during his final days.

WHITEHILL — A private celebration of life for Bernard “Barney” Richard Whitehill, who died Wednesday, March 29, 2017, will be conducted later.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to the charity of the giver's choice.