Involvement keeps this
Parkwood resident going

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

If network executives had agreed to pick up the WCAU-TV show Kid West, Gerald Whartenby might be a famous actor today.
The Mayfair native got a taste of child stardom when he rehearsed as an extra on the show, a kid version of the live western Action in the Afternoon, in 1957.
Though other 10-year-olds may have been crushed after the show got the premature ax, Whartenby shed no tears. For him, life’s course lies in the hands of those who live it, and he’s decided to live his with joy.
"You are about as happy as you make your mind up to be," he said, reciting a favorite quote by Abraham Lincoln.
It’s that philosophy that has carried the almost-child actor, now 60, through several successful, overlapping careers as a teacher, naval officer, policeman, entrepreneur and now a deacon at St. Anselm Roman Catholic Church in Parkwood, a post he’s held full-time for three years.
Whartenby’s varied resume has produced a colorful life that shows no signs of dulling, even as the married father of two and grandfather of three heads toward retirement age.
"I’ve always been involved," he said. "I’d like to have more time to relax, but there are too many things to do."
His parish office reflects his multitude of experiences and accomplishments.
There’s the fuzzy photograph of Whartenby standing near Pope John Paul II during his 1979 visit to Philadelphia. Whartenby was a detective with the police department at the time and was assigned to be the pope’s bodyguard.
A blue-and-gold banner from La Salle University marked with the years 1980 and 1990 hangs on the wall to honor Whartenby’s completion of his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, in sociology and theology, respectively. A cactus plant, used in a recent church service, stands tall and prickly below it.
Whartenby, however, spends little time in his office. He’s more focused on visiting some of his 7,950 parishioners, especially the sick and homebound.
"We do anything we can do to make the community better," he said.
Even as a member of the Philadelphia Police Department, a position often met with more hostility than happiness, Whartenby had a way with people that won him praise.
During his 21-year tenure, Whartenby, who spent time in the Navy after his graduation from Father Judge, rose up from street cop to detective with the East Division to public affairs liaison. He admits that the last post required a certain flair.
"I don’t think we had the friendliest relationship with the media," Whartenby said. "I think we had to establish a sense of trust."
The naturally affable and open Whartenby did just that. And he was so successful that he developed a course for police commanders and later co-authored a book on how to deal with the press.
Later, as a high school teacher at schools like Archbishop Ryan and Little Flower, and then a professor at Muhlenberg College, Whartenby used different techniques for teaching the different genders and age groups.
"In high school, you’re watching that child mature socially," Whartenby said. "In college, what you’re trying to do is help people with what they want to do in life."
At Muhlenberg, Whartenby taught business — his expertise in that field stemmed from his time running JMJ Puppets with his wife Joann, who teaches third grade at St. Anselm’s.
Whartenby continues to participate in the school’s international bio-defense program, for which he teaches pharmaceutical companies in other countries how to adhere to Federal Drug Administration standards in the United States.
Even with his busy church schedule and occasional globetrotting, Whartenby still finds time to help old friends. Next weekend, he will recall another past career, that of a camp counselor for the Boy Scouts of America, when he opens his church to a troop from New York for their historical tour of Philadelphia.
What Whartenby still manages to share in common with the scouts — and what each one of his jobs has entailed to a certain degree — is the desire to help.
"That’s what I like about scouting," Whartenby said. "It establishes a character in somebody."
And who knows more about character than Deacon Gerald Whartenby?
"You’ve got to be able to work with people," Whartenby said. "I just try to be open, warm and have a sense of humor." ••
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com