Joseph "Joe" Whelan

Joseph “Joe” Whelan, 75, of Keyser and formerly of Kaneohe, Hawaii, Line Lexington and Elizabethville, Pennsylvania, Moss Bluff, Louisiana, Houston, Texas, and Westernport, Maryland, passed away peacefully on July 11, 2026, at the Keyser Healthcare Center. He was with his wife, Dott, and dear friend, Father Scott Kady. He had been battling early Alzheimer’s and FTD for several years.

Born June 29, 1951, he was the son of the late Joseph and Anna Marie (Robertson) Whelan. He was also preceded in death by a son, Taylor Wayne Whelan, and a brother-in-law, Ollie Wessell.

Joe attended St. Peter’s School through ninth grade and then continued his education at Bruce High School, graduating with the Class of 1969, where he was elected vice president. Joe graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology.

In his early career, Joe was the owner and proprietor of Main Street Pub in Barton, Maryland. He relocated to Houston, Texas, in 1984, where he was originally hired as a lab technician for BFI. He was promoted to the corporate office and then transferred to Louisiana to manage the CECOS hazardous waste site. He ran it successfully for eight years until it was shut down by new management. Next was a company in Horsham, Pennsylvania, called Verticalnet.com, and from there he was hired by Waste Management to reopen a landfill in Millersburg, Pennsylvania. When Waste Management decided not to reopen Dauphin Meadow Landfill, Joe was hired to run the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill on Oahu Island, Hawaii. There, he was general manager and was also in charge of the landfills on the Big Island and Kauai. After retiring in 2015, he and Dott moved to Dandridge, Tennessee, for several years before moving back to the Keyser area.

Joe enjoyed being involved in community and church activities in all of the areas where he lived. He was on a clogging team in Texas, served as president of a credit union, and was also on the church council in Louisiana. CECOS, under his management, sponsored many community events and entered floats in Mardi Gras and Contraband Days parades. He was also very involved as a parent with the Children’s Theatre Company of Lake Charles, Louisiana. While living in Bucks County in 2001, Joe made the sacrifice to allow Dott and Meredith to move to Branson, Missouri, for six months when Meredith was 10, after she won a role in the musical “Mississippi Love,” which starred Debby Boone. He felt it was an opportunity of a lifetime for her. He was always very supportive of both Joe 3 and Meredith, putting their best interests and opportunities first. In Hawaii, he also served as president of the church council and was very involved in local activities. He enjoyed canine companionship, and throughout the years there were many beloved pups. He was especially fond of Sean, his champagne Labrador.

Joe enjoyed remodeling old homes and landscaping around them, which he did with every move. He also loved fishing and always needed to have a pool for relaxing. A very social person, he enjoyed drinking beer and telling hilarious stories with his family and friends. He liked creating a man cave in his home, with a pool table for entertainment, a kegerator, and extra-loud speakers to play his favorite music from the 1960s and 1970s. Joe was a great cook and would cater his own gatherings. Attending class reunion lunches to reconnect with high school friends was a pleasure for him.

Joe is survived by his wife of 37 years, Dott (Biggs) Whelan of Keyser; his son, Joseph “Joe-3” Whelan and wife, Lindsay, of Houston, Texas; and his daughter, Meredith Whelan and wife Maria-Ines of Oakland, California. He is also survived by three sisters, Patricia Stamanov and husband, Marco, of Ocean Pines, Maryland, Connie Wessell of Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, and Neenah Timlin and husband, Frank, of Columbia, Maryland; one brother, Steve Whelan of Rawlings, Maryland; four granddaughters, Olivia, Emilia, Virginia, and Anna, of Houston, Texas; and many nieces and nephews and their children.

Family and friends will be received at the Boal Funeral Home, Westernport, on Friday, August 7, from 2:30 p.m. to approximately 3:50 p.m.

Those in attendance are invited to proceed to Divine Mercy Parish–St. Peter Catholic Church, Church Street, Westernport, where a Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 4:00 p.m., with Father Scott Kady as celebrant. A social will follow at the rectory.

A celebration of life/wake will be held at the Candlewyck Inn of Keyser beginning at 7:00 that evening. The dress theme will be Hawaiian shirts or St. Patrick’s Day attire. All those who wish to celebrate the life of a wonderful man are welcome to attend.

A special thank-you is extended to the amazing caregivers at Keyser Healthcare Center, who were so kind to both Joe and Dott and often went above and beyond for Joe. They are loving, gentle, and gracious people. The family also wishes to thank WVU Hospice for its assistance during the past few months, as well as Joe’s many friends who visited or reached out to lift his spirits. He was a man of integrity and decency, and a blessing to all who loved him.