Charlotte County Imagination Library,<\/a> an affiliate of Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library, said Whittaker helped launch the organization.<\/p>\n\u201cHe was interested in helping because of the literacy rates in the county and across Florida,\u201d Gilstad said. \u201cHe really helped make my dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n
As superintendent, Whittaker met with Christine Zimmer, the former CEO of the local Imagination Library, to help organize, raise funds and spread the word.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the heels of Dolly, I\u2019m devastated,\u201d Gilstad said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how much more my heart can take.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zimmer said Whittaker created a partnership with the school system to support the library.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe understood the value of early literacy skills for children and how important it was,\u201d Zimmer said.<\/p>\n
According to the family\u2019s obituary, Whittaker served in the Florida education system for 42 years. Before leading the Charlotte County Public Schools, Whittaker served for years as an assistant superintendent in Lee County.<\/p>\n
After retiring as superintendent, Whittaker and his wife Sue moved to Signal Mountain, Tennessee. He served as a consultant for the International Center for Leadership in Education and a coach for the National Institute for School Leadership.<\/p>\n
Jessica Torres, Whittaker\u2019s eldest daughter, said he was a very patient father.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never contacted us in anger,\u201d Torres said. \u201cHe always had a loving demeanor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Torres said Whittaker loved to travel and spend time with his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved the beach,\u201d Torres said. \u201cHe was always one to boogie board or body surf with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Torres said he surprised the family with a trip to the Galapagos Islands.<\/p>\n
Whittaker was diagnosed with ALS in June, 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the last year was really hard for him because he used to be so active,\u201d Torres said. \u201cALS took effect on his mobility and that bothered him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whittaker could not speak or move the last few days of his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing that he is in heaven, healed, and doing whatever he wants without constraints makes my heart happy, but I do miss him,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n
Whittaker is survived by his wife, Susan; his daughters Jessica Torres and Angela Yaeger; seven grandchildren and a great-grandchild.<\/p>\n
A celebration of life will take place at 10 a.m. Oct. 17 at Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church, 612 James Blvd, Signal Mountain, Tennessee. The family requests donations be sent to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Charlotte County Public Schools Superintendent Doug Whittaker was a recipient of a Legacy Award. He died on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,134933,5507,160780,160781],"class_list":["post-404386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-charlotte-county-public-schools","tag-death","tag-douglas-whittaker","tag-superintendent-of-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}