1939 ~ 2003
Fred Whittingham, 64, beloved husband, father and grandfather died from surgical complications at Utah Valley Hospital on October 27, 2003.
Fred was born on February 4, 1939 in Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island where he played football, basketball, baseball, and track in high school. He earned four varsity letters and was all state in football, basketball and track. Fred was voted into Warwick High School Hall of Fame. He was voted one of the top 50 athletes in the state of Rhode Island for the last century.
Fred went to BYU with Hal Kopp in 1958 on a football scholarship. During his years at BYU, he met and married Nancy Livingston. He was on the Tom Lee Boxing. He boxed in Utah in 1958 and won the Intermountain Heavyweight Championship and the Regional Golden Gloves in Las Vegas. In 1959, Fred transferred to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He participated in track and football at Cal Poly from 1961 to 1962. In 2002, Fred was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cal Poly. Fred signed with the Los Angeles Rams as a free agent in 1963. He played linebacker for 10 years in the NFL for the Rams, Eagles, Saints, and Cowboys. Fred began coaching at Alhambra High School in California. From there he went to Brigham Young University. He coached for 16 years at the college level as a defensive coordinator at BYU and the University of Utah. He coached for 14 years in the NFL as a defensive coordinator for both the Los Angeles Rams and the Oakland Raiders. Fred spent the last two years of his life in retirement enjoying his family, especially his grandchildren.
Fred spent his life playing and coaching football. He was loved and respected by every player who ever played for him. As much as Fred loved football, his greatest love in life was his wife, his children and his grandchildren. He was most proud of all his children and their compassion for people, the good fathers and mothers they are to their children, and the good lives they lead. They are his best friends.
Fred is survived by his wife, Nancy, four sons, Kyle (Jamie), Cary (Lynita), Freddie (Stacy), Brady (Terri), one daughter, Julie (Ryan Cravens), and 17 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Amy Jean, and two grandsons, Joshua Frederick and Brady Bo.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, October 30th, 2003, at 12 p.m. in the Oak Hills Stake Center, 925 East North Temple Drive in Provo. Friends may call on Thursday morning at the Stake Center from 10 a.m. to noon. Interment will be in the East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery.
Services under the direction of Berg Mortuary of Provo.