On Saturday, December 7th, 2019, John Overbey Whittum passed away at the age of 88. John was born on November 27th, 1931 in Atlanta, Georgia to Charles Harold and Margaret Overbey Whittum. He grew up in Wayne, Pennsylvania, attended Williams College, transferred, and graduated with a B.A. from Harvard. He spent two years in the military after college, stationed for 18 months in Nuremberg, Germany. He was delighted to be stationed in such a culturally rich area, and took full advantage of the museums, music, and wealth of history Germany offered. After his discharge, he traveled Europe extensively, spending 30 days trekking through the former Yugoslavia on foot, as well as time in Italy and Austria. When he first arrived in Vienna, he worked for the International Rescue Committee helping Hungarian refugees cross the border into Austria. He worked as a driver for the Red Cross in Vienna for three months before returning to the US. Eventually he chose teaching as his profession, and taught at Hebron Academy in Maine early in his career. He moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado in 1963, taking a job as an English teacher at the Lowell Whiteman School (now Steamboat Mountain School). John spent 25 years working there as both teacher and headmaster.

John loved to sail. He owned and skippered the Mystery log canoe for many years and won the Maryland Governor's Cup in 1962. Later, he brought a small sailboat, the Heliotrope, out to Colorado with him to sail on Steamboat Lake. He had a great appreciation for the outdoors and spent countless hours taking long walks, hiking and camping in the wilderness, and cross-country skiing. He took up yoga and meditation and made both a daily practice, which he attributed to helping him survive cancer in 2013.

Later in life he got an M.A. in English and taught at the University of Colorado Denver. Always an active community member, John was involved with the Community Alliance, the Strawberry Park Group, the Soda Creek Ditch Company, the Steamboat Writer's Group and many others. He was a huge lover of classical music, and avidly attended the symphony and opera all his life. He loved theatre and acted in and directed many local productions, and played founder James Crawford in Steamboat's centennial celebration Signatures. He felt strongly about community issues and often made his thoughts known through opinion pieces in the local paper. John also enjoyed writing short stories and poems and published a book in 2016 titled Reflections from Northwest Colorado. John is survived by his wife of 50 years, Leigh, and his two daughters, Maggie and Lynn.

The family will host an online memorial service for John Whittum on Saturday, July 11 at 2:00 PM MDT on Zoom. From 1:30 to 2:00 PM , a slideshow will play, with photos from John's life. For more details please visit Everloved John.