Thomas M. Whalen

Dr. Thomas Whalen, died peacefully on Thursday, January 29. The son of Thomas C. and Hazel Card Whalen of Millerton, NY, husband and father, Dr. Whalen was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and raised in a large, loving family of eight in the Forest Park neighborhood of Springfield MA. After graduating from Technical High School, he joined the U.S. Army Air Force and served honorably in World War II. Returning home, he met his beloved wife of 68 years Hazel Mae Frattesi at a USO dance at Westover Air Force Base, and it was love at first sight. They married and soon thereafter moved to Chicago where Dr. Whalen attended the Illinois College of Podiatric Medicine, earning his Doctor of Podiatric Medicine in 1949. Returning to Massachusetts, he opened his own podiatry practice in West Springfield, retiring only six months ago from a thriving practice, which he shared with his daughter Dr. Christine G. Whalen, who joined him in 1985. Dr. Whalen and his wife Hazel both continued to be very active in the West Springfield community even after moving to Montgomery in the late 1970�s. A devout catholic, he was a communicant of Our Lady of Blessed Sacrament Church in Westfield and prior to that, while living in West Springfield, he was a communicant of St. Thomas the Apostle Church. A skilled and accomplished woodworker and carver, Dr. Whalen enjoyed staying physically fit and was an active outdoor enthusiast, running, hiking and working outdoors and doing restoration and maintenance projects for family, friends and the community well into his seventies, both at his home in Montgomery and on the beach at his beloved Cape Cod. At the end of a full day�s work he loved nothing more than to take in a beautiful sunset over the ocean on Cape Cod or over the horizon on the mountain in Montgomery. He instilled this love for the outdoors into his children and all of his extended family, and also a love of music, a passion he inherited from his from his mother Hazel Card Whalen, a professional violinist, who performed with the New York Philharmonic. He was pre-deceased by his brothers, Martin Whalen and William Whalen, and his sister Ruth Herter. He is survived by his wife Hazel, their three children � Patricia and husband Greg Bullen of Baltimore, Thomas of West Springfield, Christine and husband Larry Riley of Northampton - and grandson, Alex Bullen. Dr. Whalen is also survived by his sisters, Ellen Rydell of East Longmeadow, MA and Annette Dourte, of Austin, Texas, and numerous, loving nieces and nephews. The funeral will be Tuesday from 11AM � 1PM at the TOOMEY-O�BRIEN FUNERAL HOME, 1043 Westfield Street, West Springfield followed by a Liturgy Burial at 1:30 PM at Our Lady of Blessed Sacrament Church, 127 Holyoke Road, Westfield. There will be a spring burial at Center Cemetery in Montgomery. Calling Hours are Monday from 4-7 PM at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers donations in Thomas� name may be made to a charity of one�s choice.