Trumpeter, bassist. Born 1927?; died August 21, 2003 in Washington, D.C.
Attended Linton Hall Military School in Manassas, Virginia and Western High School. Served in U.S. Army.
Led Dixieland bands at Jazzland and The Bayou starting in the early 1950s. Member of many ensembles including the Bicentennial Jazz Band, the Washington Monumental Jazz Band, and the Not So Modern Jazz Quartet.
Began playing bass after being advised by his doctor to stop playing cornet after suffering a broken blood vessel in his neck while performing in 1963. He spent ten years as a bassist before resuming the cornet in the early 1970s.
By day, Whelan was a cartographer for the U.S. Army until 1984.
That is my Father. The best dad anyone could have. I used to fall asleep with my head on the bandstand when he played at Buzzys. I am his youngest daughter and will/have always missed him and my Mom every day that they have been gone.