Howard W. Whittaker, Jr. lost a three year batle with cancer and died on August 13, 2004 at his home in Coconut Grove, Florida. Whit came to Dartmouth from Needham, Massachusetts. He was an English major and a member of Phi Gamma Delta.

After service as an Army translator of Russian, Whit obtained a law degree from the University of Virginia. He specialized in public finance law and, working mainly in San Francisco, became an important figure in that legal field. But he had long wished to live in Florida and relocated there in 1983 as a partner in a major Miami firm. After ten years he left to take a position as assistant county prosecutor for Dade County. It was a job he loved and which he held until his death.

Whit was the father and step-father of five children, two of whom predeceased him. He leaves his wife, Sally Furniss Whitaker.