Keatha Erkenbrack Whitney Family Matriarch Dead at 90

Birmingham, MI, April 02, 2011 --(PR.com)-- A family spokesperson confirmed Mrs. Whitney’s death which was attributed to a short illness after a cerebral stroke. She was surrounded by her immediate family while being attended to hospice care. Mrs. Whitney, a former American tennis star [Eastern Clay Court champion] was preceded by her husband, William M. Whitney IV, and is survived by her five children: William; Randye (Clarkson); Nancy (Badalamenti); Elizabeth (Myziuk) and K. David. Additionally, eight grandchildren and a great grand daughter.

Raised in the affluent New York City suburb of Garden City, Long Island she was the daughter of the prominent dentist Dr. Kenneth ErkenBrack and sister of US Naval Academy graduate naval officers Philip and Kenneth Jr. Married to William M. Whitney IV, of the socially prominent New York [Garden City & Old Westbury] family, following World War II, Mrs. Whitney had pursued her education at the fashionable Flower Fifth Avenue School of Nursing (RN) and received a Masters degree from Columbia University – both in Manhattan. Mrs. Whitney was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.

The late Mr. Whitney served as an officer with the US Army Air Corps during WW II in Sicily and North Africa and was among an elite group of aviators to earn both gold and silver wings. After his graduation from Lafayette College he held executive positions with Fairchild Camera & Instrument, Kodak and finally Chrysler Corporation.

The immediate family settled in Birmingham, Mich. in the late 1950's and Mrs. Whitney's children all presently reside in southeastern Michigan. Memorial contributions are directed to: Hospice at Brian's House, 1515 Cal Dr., Davison, MI.

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