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- [S142] Newspaper Article, The Chagrin Valley Times [OH], 11 Nov 2004.
One Last, Long Ride Home For Cancer Victim
By Joan Demirjian
Joshua Whaley, 22, who died last week from cancer at his home in Bainbridge, had one last wish. He wanted to go for a ride in his 4-by4-wheel truck, according to his family.
Special thanks to Itamar Gat for letting us post this photo on our website.
His father and mother, Dennis and Candy Whaley, said they wanted to grant him that wish, and they did so on Sunday.
After visiting hours at Stroud Lawrence Funeral Home in Chagrin Falls, their son's casket was placed in the bed of the 4-by-4 truck he had built. In a procession of vehicles that stretched four miles along Chillicothe Road (Route 306), including at least 100 trucks, they escorted him to services at Holy Angels Church in Bainbridge.
Dennis Whaley, with Mrs. Whaley at his side, drove his son's white truck, while Joshua's sister, Jessie followed in her brother's other 4-by4 vehicle.
"It was a Blossom Time parade, only in the opposite direction," Mr. Whaley said. For years, he would drive his pickup at the end of the Blossom Time parade, and his son would ride with him, he said. Later, when Joshua started driving, he would take his own truck.
They went down the hill on East Washington Street into Chagrin Falls, Mr. Whaley said. "This time, we went up the hill."
Joshua Whaley grew up in Bainbridge and graduated from Kenston High School in 2000.
"He always loved 4-by-4 trucks," his father said. In his class yearbook, the words, "I will always be heard," are under his photograph. "He was into the hum of trucks, loud stero systems and loud exhausts," Mr. Whaley said.
When Joshua Whaley wasn't on his job as a landscaper, he worked on his own and other 4-by-4 trucks.
Over his lifetime, he rebuilt or made 28 or more 4-by-4 vehicles. His most recent was the 4-by-4 1982 shortbed Chevrolet truck which carried his casket. "He had just finshed it in early July," Mr. Whaley said. "It was the same age he was."
Joshua Whaley was diagnosed only a month before he died as the result of the aggressive cancer. He was in hospice care and asked to go home to die, his father said.
His family was at his side Nov. 2, when he died at about 4:10 a.m. in the house where he was raised on Country Lane. His grandfather and grandmother, Clyde and Doris Whaley, are also longtime Country Lane residents.
Dennis Whaley s deputy commander for the Geauga County Sheriff's Office auxiliary and is a heavy-equipment operator for the City of Solon service department. He was a longtime volunteer with the Bainbridge Volunteer Fire Department and the Chagrin Falls Fire Department. Members of the fire and law-enforcement departments took part in the parade.
Burial was at Restland Cemetery, where the Geauga County Sheriff's Office mounted unit was on hand.
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 19448664).
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1982 - 2004 (22 years)
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