Greg Whalen Death, Obituary – Enfield, CT, James Daniel Whalen and Thecla “Sally” (Maliske) Whalen had their son Gregory John on September 23, 1956. Gregory John Whalen was named after his mother. Greg was the fourth kid out of a total of seven. As he was growing up, he was subjected to the dubious influence of his five brothers. As a group, Greg and his brothers participated in a wide variety of sports and recreational pursuits, such as baseball, football, basketball, track and field, boxing, wrestling, as well as hunting, fishing, skiing, and other types of activities that took place outside. Greg was one of those naturally gifted athletes who was also a tough competitor.
He possessed amazing balance, coordination, and motor abilities even when he was a youngster. In later years, Greg excelled at a variety of sports, including baseball, skiing, wrestling, and fly fishing. Greg first picked up the sport in 1970 and competed all the way through his final year of high school. During the years 1973 and 1974, he was a serious candidate for district, regional, and state titles. 1974 was the year that he graduated from Rapid City Central High School.
Greg spent his childhood in Rapid City, South Dakota, directly across the street from Grandview School. There, he and his friends had unrestricted access to the playgrounds, basketball court, and baseball diamond of the school. There were foothills to the south of the Whalen home that were full of animals, and stock ponds there included large-mouth bass. Greg spent a lot of time in the Black Hills, where he camped, walked, and fished with a fly rod for rainbow, brown, and brook trout. He also had a passion for hunting upland game.
Greg received his certification in “Building Construction Technology” in 1975 after graduating from Black Hills Area Vocational-Technical School with the appropriate level of education. After that, he began his career in “the trades” (also known as “the vocations”) as a carpenter. In addition to that, he started participating in a whole new activity, which was motorcross motorcycle racing. However, in 1977, he “jumped one too many ditches” when he was preparing alone for a forthcoming competition near Rolla, North Dakota. As a result of the motorbike accident, Greg sustained serious injuries. He suffered a complex fracture of his leg and injury to his internal organs as a result of the accident.
As soon as he came to, he repositioned the bone that had been sticking out of its socket, splinted his leg using a fencepost and his shoelaces, and then crawled across to a gravel road. After some hours had passed, a rancher came upon Greg and immediately took him to the closest hospital. Greg returned to his craft and began working for R&S Construction after undergoing surgery and spending a year recovering from the procedure. After working in the industry for a while, Greg made the decision to launch his own construction company in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Greg built a reputation in the community as a general contractor who is recognized for his inventiveness, expertise, and high-quality work. Because to his excellent craftsmanship and design, he won a number of honors. In addition to this, Greg is the inventor of the “Whalen-Jack Scaffolding,” a jack system that is used for raised exterior construction that he also patented and built.
