Service: Saturday, October 31 starting at 3:30 p.m. at the Brockett Funeral Home at 203 Hampton Street in Southampton.
Obituary: Robert Hoover Whitmore, a summer and weekend resident of Southampton for nearly 45 years, died peacefully in his sleep at his Southampton residence on the morning of September 17 of heart failure following a long illness. It was 77.
A resident of New York, Whitmore was born in Hinton, West Virginia to Frances Hoover and Robert M. Whitmore on July 8, 1938, and raised in Lynchburg, Virginia.
He graduated from Lynchburg College with letters in swimming and football in 1959.
He was also a proud veteran of the US Navy from 1959 to 1961.
Whitmore holds a master's degree from the University of Virginia and a PhD from Columbia, which he received in 1978.
He was an outstanding college teacher at Queens College, Stony Brook University and Montclair State College, and a brilliant athlete and mentor.
One of his many proud achievements was as one of the founders and longtime leader of the New York Ramblers Soccer Club, the first gay-oriented soccer team in the country, which now boasts over 150 members.
The team nurtured similar teams in most other major US cities and was instrumental in the formation of the International Gay/Lesbian Soccer Federation, which has thousands of proud participants worldwide with teams on every continent.
Whitmore and his partner of 38 years, Alan Koral, were married at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Stamford, CT on February 19, 2011.
In addition to his husband, Whitmore is survived by his sister, Sherry Whitmore of Punta Gorda, FL, nephew, Steven Johnson of Lynchburg (sons Tyler and Brandon), nephew Robert Brooks of Madison Heights, VA (Annette) and family , laws, Marianne and Robert B. Smythe of Chevy Chase, MD, their daughters Katherine Newman (Robert) and Sarah Lane (Mark) and their respective children, and several friends.
A memorial gathering will be held Oct. 31 at Brockett Funeral Home, followed by a Halloween party in Whitmore's memory at the Herrick Road home.
Costumes are encouraged at both events.
Those who know Whitmore know how much he loved a party, especially a costume party.
Guests are asked to RSVP to Alan Koral at amkoral@aol.com so the caterer has a good number.
Another memorial service and reception will be held in New York on November 9.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, friends and family consider making a gift in Bob's honor to the New York Ramblers, www.newyorcramblers.org or by check to Ramblers Soccer New York, by mail to PO Box 230330, New York , New York 10023 or at the memorial service.
