In Praise of Roger Whitaker
by Ron Wencer,
HHS Class of 1964
Introduction
I usually write about the village of Hicksville, but not this time around. This time, I’m writing on behalf of all of us – those who make Hixnews, and those who read it – to acknowledge the long and invaluable service of our former webmaster, Roger Whitaker. While I’m at it, I’ll also touch upon how connections among Hicksville families and friends led a man in Minnesota to play matchmaker for Illinois resident Roger (whom he’d never met in person) and a woman from Hicksville.
Overview
Roger was not part of the Hixnews founding team; his involvement began with a website he built for the 50th-anniversary reunion of the HHS Class of
Roger Whitaker, webmaster extraordinaire, courtesy of Vicky Whitaker 
Victoria Penner Whitaker1958, of which his wife Vicky Penner Whitaker is a member. As that website took shape, it became clear that Roger’s skills and technical knowledge could serve Hixnews well, and he soon became our volunteer webmaster. He served in that capacity from 2008 until the original “Newsletter” ceased publication following the death of Bob Casale. Even then, Roger continued to serve, assisting the team that built Hixnews anew, so that it could reappear in 2024.
It is all too common to hear about people who take their knowledge and computer data to the grave – well, that will never be said of Roger Whitaker. With the passing of Buffalo Bob, for a time, it seemed likely that there would be no future issues of the Newsletter and that the archive of past issues, wherever it existed in cyberspace, would perish – but Roger knew how to prevent that. He had retained digital copies of all the past issues. He alerted the new volunteers to the upcoming expiration of the contracts, which was essential to keep the old issues online and accessible. Equally important, he allowed the new Hixnews team to tap into his wealth of experience, even when we besieged him with “newbie” questions.
Vicky and Roger have each “worn many hats” and won many accolades throughout their lifetimes. In addition to their individual careers, at times, they have worked together, both in business and for charity. I find it impossible to write about Roger’s life without also writing about Vicky’s – which is, I believe, the way that they like things to be.
Vicky Before She Knew Roger
Victoria Penner, 1958 Comet YearbookVicky Penner majored in Journalism at Hofstra, where she became the student newspaper editor. After graduating in 1962, she worked as a newspaper reporter and editor, earning the respect of her peers and becoming President of the Press Club of Long Island. Her last job on the Island was serving as head of Public Relations for SUNY Stony Brook, a position that she held for nearly 15 years. During those 15 years at Stony Brook, Vicky was widowed when her husband of 26 years died in an airplane crash.
Roger Before He Knew Vicky
Roger Whitaker grew up in and around Springfield, Illinois. Interested in electronics from an early age, he became a licensed amateur radio operator at 11. Note that his mother encouraged him by studying along with him; she got her ham license at the same time! He earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla. You may be interested to learn that one year, he interrupted his studies to go to Tunis, where he served as a radio operator onboard the hospital ship S.S. Hope during a lengthy humanitarian mission. 
Roger at the Ships Radio k9ljb.com
S.S. Hope circa 1960-1974 Wikipedia
Ketch BarakaAfterward, his return to school was delayed by an unexpected adventure. A 56’ ketch moored at Tunis, unable to continue its voyage because its autopilot needed repair. Parts and expertise were nowhere to be found along the North African shore, but someone from the Hope persuaded the ketch owner to let Roger look at the problem. Roger did, and he repaired it. Invited to remain on board as crew, Roger got to sail partway home via Gibraltar, Casablanca, the Canary Islands, and finally, Barbados.
His career as an engineer – he’s still working, albeit part-time -- has been successful but, presumably, less adventurous. He has designed and supported elevator control systems, taught electronics courses, and built, hosted, and supported websites since the early days of the World Wide Web.
How They Met
Mitchell FreedmanWhen Vicky was the student newspaper editor at Hofstra, she worked with another HHS grad, Mitchell Freedman (Class of 1960). Like her, he would go on to have a long career as a news reporter and later become President of the Press Club of Long Island. Over the years, chance meetings were inevitable and frequent when they both worked as reporters on the island.
Meanwhile, Mitch’s parents moved their family from Hicksville to Suffolk, not far from where Vicky lived. Her own parents were gone, and she sometimes turned to Mitch’s for advice, helped his mother with shopping, or just came over for a visit. They became her
Jack Freedman courtesy of Vicky Whitaker surrogate family. Mitch had a much younger brother, Jack, whom older readers of Hixnews might recall. (According to the 1967 yearbook, Jack was a member of the HHS Tactical Games Society, for which the faculty advisor was the man whom I recall as “the younger Mr. Horne.”)
Jack later became a hospital administrator and a consultant to healthcare organizations. Through extensive business-related email and telephone contact, he and Roger Whitaker became good friends, long before they ever met face-to-face. At some point after Vicky was widowed, Jack, who was working at a hospital in the Minneapolis area, decided that the divorced Roger would get along well with the widowed Vicky. After some preliminary conversations on that topic with each of them, he dispatched emails to Springfield and Long Island, suggesting that each follow through with the other. And they did.
According to Vicky, an exchange of emails eventually grew to a thousand printed pages. Deciding to spare whatever forests were left, they finally decided to meet in person. Vicky visited Roger in Springfield, and then Roger visited Vicky in New York. The spark was there (that’s an old radio pun, or at least it should be), and decisions were easy to make: they would marry, and Vicky would move to Springfield and become part of Roger’s family. More than 20 years later, that family boasts 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.
As the HHS Class of 1958 looked ahead to its 50th Anniversary Reunion, Vicky was on the organizing committee, tracking down “lost” classmates and publicizing the event online. Coincidentally, the Whitakers had started developing websites together as a business venture. Roger volunteered his time to develop a special reunion website. As noted earlier, Hixnews had come into existence separately. All parties then agreed that Roger should become its webmaster.
Partial List of Their Services, Awards, and Accomplishments
Vicky and Roger are ham radio operators, and they both serve at the state level of the Amateur Radio Relay League, overseeing radio clubs that operate in Illinois.
Roger serves in a number of volunteer roles that entail liaison with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and/or the Office of Homeland Security. Many relate to the use of ham radio for essential communications should normal communications channels fail. Most notably, Roger is the County Coordinator of ARES (i.e., “amateur radio emergency services”). He is also the manager and trustee of the Illinois State Emergency Operations Center, which was built in part to facilitate state-wide ham radio communications. In addition, Roger sits on two counties’ emergency planning committees, which are mandated to manage or contain certain types of threats, such as the movement of hazardous materials through the area.
Vicky has served on the national Board of the Society of Professional Journalists. She continues to serve as a judge for the Society’s Sigma Delta Chi national journalism awards.
Both Whitakers have put in many years of service to plan and realize the Springfield Memorial Hospital Foundation’s annual Festival of Trees. Recently, the event has had to evolve to fit a post-COVID world better. Still, in the past it featured 70 different performances that attracted as many as 40,000 visitors over a 10-day run. Roger’s electronics expertise, especially with respect to sound systems, was always in demand.
Vicky has served on the board of Friends of the Sangamon Auditorium at the University of Illinois. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Foundation for Frontier Studies, which supports archeological research in and around Illinois.
Roger and Vicky both remain active in the large (almost 700 members) Sangamon County Historical Society. Each has served as its President, and Vicky has served as Editor of the Society’s newsletter, Historico.
Earlier this year, Vicky was named recipient of the George M. Estabrook Award, awarded by Hofstra University to distinguished alumni.
Conclusion
I am certain that there are many, many other good things that I might have said about Roger and Vicky Whitaker. They are fine people, and they are impressive people – they excel at what they do. They both work hard to make the world a better place.
Kudos to Roger for doing an exemplary job, helping Hixnews flourish for so long. In the time that he and I overlapped at Hixnews, he was always helpful, always prepared to do more than the minimal effort required, and when necessary, exhibited the best quality one can have in a crisis – a sense of humor. He deserves special thanks for his great patience, resourcefulness when adaptations had to be made, and always being a team player, no matter what.
And, of course, many thanks to Vicky for sharing him with us.
