Harry Whiteley

ALPENA — On Sunday, Rogers City will celebrate Harry Whiteley Day.

Harry won’t be there to celebrate with them.

Only a handful of days before his 101st birthday, the proud Michigander, journalist, and avid conservationist — respected and beloved by many in northern Michigan — died on Tuesday, leaving behind a century of giving his all to his community and state.

Harry Hoeft Whiteley was a Rogers City boy, graduating from Rogers City High School in 1937. Last year, the city officially named a day in his honor, commemorating the 100th birthday of one known by many as a man dedicated to making his world better.

For a time working as a journalist at downstate newspaper after high school, Whiteley returned to Rogers City in the 1940s, immersing himself in the small-town newspaper owned by his father. Upon Hal Whiteley’s retirement, his son took over, running the newspaper for the next several decades.

Through his long lifetime, Whiteley headed multiple civic organizations in Rogers City and northern Michigan, expanding his civic-mindedness statewide as he took on leadership roles in the areas of tourism, print journalism, and conservation of natural resources.

His active involvement earned him prestigious awards, an appointment to the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission by former president George H.W. Bush in 1992, and a trip to the White House while he was the president of the Michigan Press Association.

Whiteley was — and will continue to be — “a legend” in the conservation world, according to Keith Charters, who served as president of the state’s Natural Resources Commission for 16 years, all of them working side-by-side with Whiteley.

“He did one hell of a lot,” said Charters.

At 25 years, Whiteley holds the record as the group’s longest-serving member, tapped six times to serve on the commission through the administrations of governors of both parties.

Passionate about conservation statewide, Whiteley was especially loud in his advocacy for his stomping grounds, pushing for the adoption of northern Michigan state parks and prodding commissioners to support Up North projects even after he retired from the group.

“There may have been a little bias toward protecting Rogers City and Northeast Michigan,” Charters said fondly.

The avid hunter and outdoorsman gave a quarter of his 100 years to the commission, fighting for Michigan’s wild places and embracing every conservation issue that came his way, Charters remembered.

“I said, ‘Harry, you should get a life,'” Charters laughed. “But he did, obviously. He had a good life.”