In Memoriam

Robert Stewart Whyte
1937–2023

COOPERSTOWN – Robert “Bob” Stewart Whyte, 86, died on Sunday, December 17, 2023, in Cooperstown, New York, where he had recently relocated.

Bob was born in San Jose, California on May 13, 1937 and grew up in Watsonville, California, where he attended Watsonville High School. He became an Eagle Scout in 1952, played on the tennis team, and began cultivating his musical and comedy talents while writing skits for the rally committee.

Bob went to the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering in 1960. While a student, he played banjo with his fraternity brothers at Theta Xi. Eventually he found himself playing in the banjo halls of San Francisco, including The Red Garter and Crazy Horse. Also, while at Cal, Bob worked at the university’s family summer camp, the Lair of the Golden Bear, as part of the maintenance crew. He was promoted to program director for his third and fourth years, where he wrote, directed, and performed musical comedy skits with the rest of the staff to entertain the campers.

Bob met his wife of 61 years, Christine Mary Howett of Shirley, England, on a blind date in San Francisco in 1961. They married on April 28, 1962, in Addington, England.

Bob and Chris moved to Boston in 1963, where Bob earned an MBA from Harvard. Then it was back to San Francisco where they had their first son, Stephen, in 1965.

Much of Bob’s career was in finance. He worked for IBM, Payson and Trask, and General Electric Capital amongst others. But all the while that banjo was tagging along in trains, planes, and automobiles, on its way to business trips, conferences, and client meetings, just in case there was an opportunity to start some sing-a-longs.

In 1969 Bob, Chris, and Stephen moved to New York and then to Old Greenwich, Connecticut in 1970. In 1972, he and some friends started a banjo, scrubboard, and gutbucket band called The Whyte Laundry Company, which played traditional jazz music, sing-a-longs, and novelty songs. They played at town events, kids’ parties, adults’ parties, old folks’ homes, and even Lincoln Center.

In 1978, Bob and Chris welcomed their second son, Matthew, into the family. As with Steve, Bob helped raise Matt in a house filled with music.

Bob enjoyed being involved with the community and was Cubmaster while Steve was a Cub Scout and a Den Leader during Matt’s Cub Scout years. He was a volunteer with Junior Achievement, mentoring youths pursuing an education in business.

In 1998, Bob and Chris moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to help start venture capital company VenSouth. While there, Bob taught a course called “The Story of Tin Pan Alley” for the Ollie Lifelong Learning Institute and was president of the Harvard Club of Research Triangle. He also volunteered with the Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate Program of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and was proud to see his mentee, MT, develop into a successful young man.

As a complement to his banjo playing, Bob loved writing lyrics. He wrote numerous personalized parodies over the years for friends, family, co-workers and clients, celebrating their various life events. His playing and writing continued wherever the family lived, in California, New York, Connecticut, Arizona, and North Carolina. As well as playing solo and with his band, he played with many other musicians and groups around the country including a performance with Your Father’s Moustache at Carnegie Hall.

In addition to music, Bob loved the outdoors, taking his family on backpacking and camping trips reminiscent of the backpacking adventures he had taken as a high-schooler in the High Sierra, and taking each of his sons whitewater rafting through the Grand Canyon. Other favorite hobbies included swimming in the ocean, telling raunchy jokes and throwing surprise parties for his wife. He was outgoing and inquisitive, always wanting to know more about everyone he met.

Bob and Chris recently moved to Cooperstown, New York to be closer to their son, Matt, and two granddaughters, Alva and Sylvie. Though he had stopped playing banjo recently, as his hands had stopped cooperating, he was still singing into his last days.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, June Stromberg and Stewart Whyte, and stepfather, Hjalmar Stromberg. He is survived by his wife, Chris, his two sons, Stephen and Matthew (Molly), his granddaughters, Alva and Sylvie, and his brother, Jim (Carmy), and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at Tod’s Point in Old Greenwich, Connecticut sometime in the spring.

In lieu of flowers, in the spirit of Bob, consider asking the next person you meet about their aspirations, interests or achievements.