Beloved Portsmouth icon Harold Whitehouse has died. 'He was one of a kind'

PORTSMOUTH — Harold Whitehouse Jr., who served the city for more than 30 years in a variety of positions, died Wednesday night at his home.

The Navy veteran, known to his friends as “Whitey,” served his country in World War II. He was 95.

City Manager Karen Conard called Whitehouse “a treasure.”

“He served the city in so many capacities for decades,” she said during an interview outside her City Hall office on Thursday morning. “You don’t see that kind of civic engagement, you don’t see that kind of prolonged interest, history, knowledge, experience, you just don’t see that anymore. He was one of a kind.”

Whitehouse served on both the City Council and School Board.

The city’s Parking, Traffic and Safety Committee, which Whitehouse served on past his 95th birthday, held a moment of silence in his honor during its Thursday morning meeting.

“I’m sure the council will want to do something for him and we’ll work on that in the coming days,” Conard added.

A symbol of Portsmouth

Former City Attorney Robert Sullivan has been close friends with Whitehouse for more than 30 years.

“First and foremost I remember him as my friend,” Sullivan said during an interview in his City Hall office, where he still works part-time.

“He had intuitive good judgment that is rare to find. ... He just knew what the right thing to do was,” Sullivan said Thursday. “It didn’t involve stopping and analyzing, it didn’t involve asking other people what they thought, it didn’t involve taking a poll, it was just something he had.”

Sullivan said he attempted to visit Whitehouse Tuesday at his Portsmouth home, but didn’t get to see him because he was in hospice care.

“The way I would like people to think about Harold from here on out is that if they were to pick any one person who could serve as the symbol of the city, he would be the man,” Sullivan said. “He was a working man.”

Despite all of Portsmouth’s recent success and popularity, Sullivan stressed the city “was built by working people.”

“Navy yard workers, fishermen, and he was really one of those people and yet he was one of the leaders of government for 30 years,” Sullivan said. “He could be the symbol, he could be the icon, and I think he should be.”

Whitehouse worked for the Portsmouth Herald for 28 years as a pressman and linotype operator, leaving the paper in 1968 for a job at the shipyard.

Although Portsmouth has changed over the nearly 100 years Whitehouse called it home, his affection for the city he served never dipped.

“He loved the city so much that he immediately accepted any changes, and he loved the changes,” Sullivan said.

'Just a carpenter'

Sullivan said when Whitehouse first successfully ran for City Council, he billed himself as “just a carpenter in the Navy yard.”

Whitehouse was unfailingly friendly and funny, and often did things with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes.

Typically, Sullivan said, Whitehouse would come looking for him on “St. Patrick’s Day because he liked corn beef and cabbage and beer, so we would go out together.”

A huge loss for Portsmouth

Mayor Deaglan McEachern called Whitehouse’s passing a “huge loss for the city of Portsmouth.”

“He’s an exemplary citizen and he served his city and his country at the highest level,” McEachern said Thursday. “He served others before himself and he put his life on the line while working tirelessly to make the world better.”

He credited Whitehouse and others from his generation for all the work they did “to make Portsmouth what it is.”

He added that the native Portsmouth resident represented “a time when people were quick to think of others as much as themselves.”

He praised Whitehouse too for “being so nice and funny” that he was able to say tough things at times about city issues.

“Sometimes how the message is delivered is as important as the message itself,” he said.

He expects the discussion about how to honor Whitehouse will likely come up at the Jan. 16 council meeting.

“It’s really important for a city as great as Portsmouth to recognize those folks like Harold that we all should try to emulate,” McEachern said. “We should make sure Harold’s legacy lives on.”

Former Mayor Jack Blalock helped to dedicate a bridge in Whitehouse’s honor during a ceremony in 2018. The Marcy Street bridge was renamed the Harold “Whitey” Whitehouse Bridge in honor of the Portsmouth native.

At the time, Blalock said “Whitey embodies everything Portsmouth means to me.”

“He’s the spirit of Portsmouth. When I think of Portsmouth and who cares the most for it, Harold Whitehouse comes to my mind,” Blalock said.

A love for Portsmouth

During an interview Thursday, Blalock said Whitehouse’s death represents “a huge loss for Portsmouth.”

“He was just a giant of a man that just loved Portsmouth so much, he loved every square inch of it,” Blalock said.

He praised Whitehouse for all his work to keep Portsmouth “such a very good place to live.”

Blalock said Whitehouse was a “mentor” to him when he first decided to run for City Council.

“He was one of the first people to call me and give me a hand and tell me where to put my signs,” Blalock recalled Thursday.

He credited Whitehouse for “telling it like he thought it should be, and not necessarily the popular answer.”

But because he did it with a smile, “no one disliked him.”

“Some of my best memories are sitting in front of Breaking New Grounds with him and a cup of coffee,” Blalock added.

Spirited public servant

John Bohenko was the longest serving city manager in Portsmouth’s history, and has known Whitehouse since 1997.

“He was always very engaged in anything he was doing. He served on a number of boards and commissions, and he would go out and do the work,” Bohenko said.

“He would be really involved and make sure he knew all the facts,” he said Thursday.

Bohenko described Whitehouse “as a very spirited, public servant, somebody who really wanted to do good. I have a lot of fond memories of working with him and occasionally going out and having a couple of beers."

Bohenko said his long-time friend also wrote, “Home by Nine: The Real South End."

“I remember there were a lot of great stories, and it was nice to reminisce with him,” Bohenko said. “He was quite a guy.”

City Councilor Andrew Bagley got to know Whitehouse because the second-term councilor chairs the Parking, Traffic and Safety Committee.

“Harold has been on Parking, Traffic and Safety since around when it was created,” Bagley said.

He pointed out Whitehouse didn’t step down from the committee until after he turned 95.

“I think he sets an example that’s very hard for the rest of us to follow, but it’s something we should all strive for and keep in our hearts and minds when we think about him,” Bagley said Thursday.

Bagley said Whitehouse was “deeply passionate about Portsmouth. I don’t think anybody knows Portsmouth better than he knows Portsmouth."

He stressed the importance of Whitehouse’s willingness to speak out on important issues.

“When he had an opinion, he made it well known, which I always appreciated,” he said. “He was a great man and Portsmouth will miss him badly."

A man of conviction

Sullivan, as he spoke Thursday about Whitehouse, credited City Councilor Josh Denton, an Army veteran, for working to get him all the benefits he needed.

Sullivan recalled how some of Whitehouse’s critical medical bills were a strain.

Denton, who is the commander of Portsmouth’s VFW post, worked with others there to get Whitehouse all his benefits, and they drove him to a V.A. office.

Sullivan recalled how Whitehouse thanked Denton for all his work but said, “I still can never vote for you because of the plastic bag ban you proposed.”

“Josh is very serious about that, and Whitey hated it,” Sullivan added.

Reached late Thursday afternoon, Denton laughed and confirmed the story.

“Every time I talked to him he said, ‘You’re doing a great job but I can’t vote for you because of the plastic bags,’” Denton said. “He said that the last time I talked to him.”

Denton said Whitehouse smiled every time he said it and it never bothered him.

“It was great, it made me laugh every time he said it and it always brought a smile to my face,” Denton said. “He’s a man of conviction and a true patriot."

Denton said he still hasn’t processed Whitehouse’s death, because it happened so recently.

“The fact that Harold has done so much for the city, I don’t think we’ll totally feel the impact of his loss for a long time,” he said.

More: Portsmouth South End stalwart Harold Whitehouse: 'I've got memories like crazy'

A note for veterans

Denton said the primary purpose of service organizations like the VFW is “to make sure veterans get the benefits they earned.”

He encouraged any veteran who is having problems getting his or her benefits to reach out to him at 603-553-1810.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth icon Harold Whitehouse dies, leaves legacy in city