
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990                   TAG: 9004030608
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VWCC RECEIVES GRANT FROM ESTATE

Virginia Western Community College has received a $280,000 gift from the estate of Bernard Whitman, a well-known local music teacher.

Whitman "truly believed the college played an important role for the students in the Roanoke community," said Larry Fulp, executor of the estate.

Whitman, who died in August, came to Roanoke in 1946. He played with big-band greats such as Stan Kenton, Guy Lombardo and Rudy Vallee and sat in with the backup instrumentalists for pop groups, such as Tony Orlando and Dawn, that performed in the Roanoke Valley.

He also was the band and music instructor at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Salem.

Whitman, who could play any instrument but favored woodwinds and the saxophone, once estimated he had taught between 4,000 and 5,000 elementary, high school and college students.

Mark Emick, administrative assistant to the college's president, said the gift would be placed in Virginia Western's endowment.

by CNB