Gregory John Whalen was born on September 23, 1956, to James Daniel Whalen and his wife, Thecla "Sally" (Maliske) Whalen.  Greg was the fourth of seven children.  He grew up under the questionable influence of his five brothers.  Greg and his brothers engaged in the full spectrum of sports and recreation, including baseball, football, basketball, track, boxing, wrestling, hunting, fishing, skiing, and all sorts of outdoor activities.  Greg was a natural athlete and a fierce competitor. Even as a child, he had remarkable balance, coordination, and motor skills.  Later, Greg excelled at baseball, snow skiing, wrestling, and fly fishing.  Greg started wrestling in 1970 and continued until his senior year in High School.  He was a contender for district, regional, and state championships in 1973 and 1974.  He graduated from Rapid City Central High School in 1974.

Greg grew up across the street from Grandview School in Rapid City, South Dakota, where he and his friends had full run of the basketball court, baseball diamond, and playgrounds.  South of the Whalen house, there were foothills with wildlife and stock ponds with large-mouth bass.  Greg frequently camped, hiked, and fly-fished for rainbow, brown, and brook trout in the Black Hills.  He also enjoyed upland game hunting.

In 1975, Greg graduated from Black Hills Area Vocational-Technical School with his certification in "Building Construction Technology".  Afterwards, he started his life-long career in "the trades" as a carpenter.  He also took up a new sport --- motor-cross motorcycle racing.  However, in 1977 near Rolla, North Dakota, while practicing alone for an upcoming event, he "jumped one too many ditches".  Greg was severely injured in the motorcycle accident. He suffered damage to internal organs and sustained a compound fracture of his leg.  When he regained consciousness, he pushed the protruding bone into place, splinted his leg with a fencepost and bootlaces, and crawled to a gravel road.  A rancher found Greg sometime later and rushed him to the nearest hospital.  After surgery and a year in recovery, Greg resumed his trade and worked for R&S Construction.  After a few years, Greg decided to start Whalen Construction Company, Inc. of Rapid City, South Dakota.  As a general contractor, Greg became locally known for his creativity, skill, and quality construction.  He received numerous awards for his design and craftsmanship. In addition, Greg invented, patented, and manufactured "Whalen-Jack Scaffolding", a jack system for elevated exterior construction.

The center of Greg's earthly life was his daughter, Sarah.  From birth, she was the object of his love, affection, and pride.  Greg also loved family gatherings, the Catholic Faith, robust political debates, and golden retrievers.  He underwent a kidney transplant in 2013 and urothelial cancer surgery in 2021.  In the fall of 2022, Greg battled recurrent pneumonia, cancer, and myasthenia gravis.  Greg died on January 7, 2023.

Greg is survived by his daughter Sarah Anne Whalen; his brothers, Patrick, Michael, Paul, Timothy, and Daniel; and his sister, Mary Frances (Whalen) Steinmetz.  He will be missed by his many nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and extended family.

Friends and family are invited to a Vigil Service on Friday, January 13, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. at Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home.  Visitation will begin at 5:00 p.m.  A Christian Funeral Mass will be on Saturday, January 14 at 1:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.  Burial will follow at Pine Lawn Memorial Park.