David Lodge Whiting

David Lodge Whiting was born on September 3, 1943 in Payson, Utah. He was welcomed into the loving family of Patricia Lodge and William Verl Whiting. He had an older sister, Sydna and two younger siblings, Wendell and Tricia. They were raised in Springville, Utah.

David’s childhood was full of good memories and he made many lifelong friends. He was always involved in multiple sports, little league baseball, skiing, golf, basketball, tennis, and track. In high school, he was on many of the sports teams. During one of his tennis matches, his track coach interrupted him and told him that he needed to come run the 4-40 in the track meet. He changed his shoes, ran his 4-40 and then came back and finished his tennis match. To him it was no big deal. David was good at everything and he found a way to balance all the things he loved to do. He was also very musically talented and played the trombone, sang in the Acapella choir and male quartette.

During his freshman year at Springville High, a cute new girl, named Bette, had just moved into town and caught his eye at the sock hop. At the end of the dance he asked her if he could walk her home. She said no, she didn’t know him. All the other girls thought that was so funny because they all knew what a gentleman he was. Being persistent, David asked Bette out but didn’t know where she lived, so he called and pretended to be local paperboy and asked for their address. David and Bette have been together since they were 15 years old.

After graduating from high school, David attended BYU and started studying business. In 1962, he accepted a mission call to serve in the Texas mission. He was excited to serve the people of Texas and teach them the gospel. He learned how to work hard and love the people. There were many rigorous challenges in missionary work and that taught David many valuable lessons. He made a big impact on his mission, to the people he taught and to the missionaries he served with.

After completing his mission, he continued his business education at BYU and graduated in 1967. During their last year at BYU, he and Bette were married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 9, 1966. In the spring of 1967, David continued his education and completed an MBA program at the University of Utah. In 1971, David was recruited by a large retail company called Fashion Fabrics and started as the new ventures manager. One of the ventures he discovered was a small start-up company called, Athletic Bag Company. David became so intrigued with the potential of the company that he decided to acquire the company.

It was the perfect job for him. It was small with sales of $135,000 per year and only 15 employees. It gave him the opportunity to use all of his business skills, background, and experience. He was the only person in the office and did all of the office and management functions. He didn’t know much about manufacturing, sewing, and silk screening, but he hired experienced people to help him. He loved the sporting goods business and found it exciting and fun. He had a goal and vision to grow the business to one million in sales in five years. It only took three. He had become an entrepreneur!

In 1991, however, David got a devastating phone call while out of town. His building caught on fire and was completely destroyed. For the next four days, David never slept knowing what he built was gone, temporarily. He knew he had to get his company up and running as soon as possible. With support of wonderful dedicated employees they rebuilt the company better than ever. As a result, they were awarded The Blue Chip Award for over coming the most difficult of circumstances.

By 1995, the company had grown to ten million in sales and 150 employees. As David looked back on his accomplishment with Athletic Bag, he knew it was because of the work and support of family, friends and hard working employees. Throughout his career his company had licenses with the NBA, NFL, MLB, NCAA and major retail businesses. After a rewarding and fulfilling 25 years with Athletic Bag Company, he retired in 2004.

David was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and he served in various callings throughout his life. As a young father, at the age of 32, David was called to be the bishop of the Great 28th Ward. He loved the people of that ward and wanted to make a difference in their lives. After retiring from work, he and Bette spent 17 years serving as ordinance workers in the South Jordan and Salt Lake Temples. They had many faith promoting experiences there and became very close friends with those who they served with.

Bette and David were blessed with five children; Todd, Marci, Jeff, Clark, and Brad. David loved his family and he loved spending time with his kids. He was everyone’s biggest fan. He coached little league teams, attended dance recitals and plays, and was always there to cheer on his kids and grandchildren in whatever they were doing.

Of all the things David cherished, his family was where he found his happiness. After retirement, he loved being able to spend quality time with his kids and grandkids. Whether it was going shopping for a birthday, going to lunch, spending time skiing, golfing or fishing, it was about spending the most valuable of things, time together. David understood what was important in life and he made things happen. He was the ultimate dad, an amazing husband, an incredible boss, the perfect neighbor, a fantastic friend, and an amazing human being. He will forever be missed but we know he’s reunited with his loved ones on the other side.

David is survived by his wife, Bette and children: Todd Whiting (Christy), Marci LeSueur (Richard), Jeff Whiting, Clark Whiting (Alexandria), Brad Whiting, his 12 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren, and his sister Tricia Walter.

The funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 11, 2021 from 12-1 pm at the Top of the World Chapel (8100 Top of the World Drive, SLC, Utah 84121) with a viewing from 11-11:30 am prior to the services. There will also be a viewing on Friday, September 10, 2021 from 6-8 pm at the Top of the World Chapel.

Interment will be at the Memorial Mountain View Cemetery following the services at the church.

Memorial Mountain View

3115 East 7800 South

Cottonwood Heights

Be aware of Marathon traffic on Wasatch Blvd and Ft. Union on Saturday, Sept 11th. For more details visit:

https://brookseeevents.s3.amazonaws.com/bcm/2021/files/BCM-21_EDDM.pdf

If you are unable to attend the services in person, please join the service through Zoom:

STREAMING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Joining by computer

a. Go to zoom.us in any internet browser

b. Click “join meeting”

c. Enter the meeting id – 8015661249

d. A box will open saying “https://zoom.us wants to open this application”. Click “open

zoom”

e. Click “Join with Computer Audio”

f. Click “Mute” in the bottom left hand corner so that your audio does not interrupt

the funeral services

2. Joining by phone or iPad

a. Download the Zoom app

b. Open the app and select “join a meeting”

c. Enter the meeting id – 8015661249

d. Select “join without video”

e. Select “Call using internet audio”

f. Select “mute” in the bottom left hand corner so that your audio does not interrupt