Members of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP), mourn the passing of Dr. Howard Martin Whitcraft on August 15, 2022.
Devoted Spouse and Loving Father
Howard Whitcraft was born in St. Louis on November 7, 1938, the eve of World War II and the bloodiest conflict in history. He passed from this earth in the midst of another terrible crisis affecting the whole world, which is both spiritual and moral in nature.
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When it came time to go to college, he enrolled at the University of Missouri in Rolla, where he majored in physics. He struggled for a while, but by the time he got his bachelor’s degree, his thirst for knowledge had blossomed. However, the practical sciences no longer interested Howard Whitcraft. He wanted to pursue knowledge of the great questions about existence and being.
He spoke to his counselor about this quest and was told that he could make up a few courses over the summer and enter graduate school in philosophy. He then told Dr. Whitcraft that he would also have to learn Greek, Latin and German. This was an insurmountable obstacle. So this avid seeker of Truth chose to study pure mathematics, which is the study of mathematical concepts without explicit or immediate consideration of a direct application. He considered it closer to philosophy than almost any other field.
During this period, Dr. Whitcraft met and eventually married Rosalie Rallo. At his death, they had been married for nearly 59 years and had six children together. All of them have remained in the bosom of Holy Mother Church which was one of his greatest desires. This was due in large part to his example. They witnessed their father receiving Communion on an almost daily basis. He never let a day go by without praying the Holy Rosary in Latin, the language of the Church.
Pure Mathematics and the Love of God
The study of pure mathematics became a passion for him. He loved it because it deals with big concepts, ideas and principles. As abstract as it might seem, he saw it as inextricably linked to his notions of being, existence and even religion. While working on the math book he was writing, he often commented that he did not know how to express his ideas about mathematics without talking about God. This concerned him because he knew that such a math book might not be well received in modern graduate schools.
When he finished the math part of his textbook without mentioning the Almighty, he began to rework the introduction and was faced with a problem. He could not explain why he had developed his ideas about math without speaking about God. To solve the problem, he delved once more into the Summa Theologica of Saint Thomas Aquinas to get an answer.
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Such concerns might seem like utter madness to modern mathematicians, but Dr. Whitcraft was not an average professor. Indeed, he was a man who immersed himself in high ideas which always ended in contemplation of the Divinity and the sublime mysteries of Mary Most Holy. This love for the sublime led him to despise all things trivial and banal.
His Paths Cross with the TFP and Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
In the mid-seventies, he became acquainted with the writings of Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, founder of the Brazilian Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) and inspirer of 25 sister associations throughout the world. He later traveled to São Paulo, Brazil, where he met Dr. Plinio and, in 1984, was received as a TFP member. He was presented with the characteristic red cape by the founder, which he treasured his entire life. Thus, the TFP became the center of his attention and ideas for the rest of his life. He encouraged his sons to become involved in the TFP, which was life-changing for the entire family. His dear wife Rosalie was like a mother to TFP members who had the privilege of visiting the Whitcraft household.
When Dr. Whitcraft spoke about the ideas of Dr. Plinio—as he often did—it would awaken in him a childlike enthusiasm and an insatiable thirst for more. This enthusiasm would increase in proportion to how abstract and high level those ideas were. In all truth, he loved these doctrines substantially more than he loved pure mathematics.
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Thus, Dr. Whitcraft was a man who loathed mediocrity. Anyone who knew him could see this. He did not merely strive for perfection in everything; he would not tolerate the slightest imperfection. He appreciated perfect things so much that he often delighted in simply imagining how things could be more perfect.
Love for the Fruits of Christian Civilization
This quest for perfection led him to a profound love for the fruits of Christian civilization. After meeting Prof. Plinio, he acquired a newfound appreciation for the remnants of medieval Christendom. He was not one to indulge in recreational activities but enjoyed anything refined, especially food and drink.
In this way, Dr. Whitcraft can be understood by the response given to an American diplomat who inquired about the tastes of Winston Churchill before a state visit to the United States.
“Just serve him the best of everything, and he will be happy,” was the response of Churchill’s valet. Like Churchill, Dr. Whitcraft appreciated the best in all things, particularly when it was accompanied by an elevated conversation. He was not a materialist satisfied only with the physical necessities of life. He had a burning desire, a metaphysical need to know ever higher truths.
This fact was illustrated well in a story told by one of his sons. He recalls asking his father to teach him about cameras and how to take pictures. Dr. Whitcraft happily agreed, but the son was expecting a short hands-on workshop. He was surprised when his father got a glass of peach nectar and began to expound upon how a perfect camera would function.
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When his son asked him where he might acquire such a camera, his father simply shrugged his shoulders and said: “You can’t. It doesn’t exist.” In this way, Dr. Whitcraft was very Plinian. The TFP Founder was not content in marveling upon God’s creation; he loved to imagine what he called “the possibles of God.”
Devotee of Our Lady
Dr. Whitcraft was particularly interested in Prof. Plinio’s commentaries about the fulfillment of the prophecies of Fatima and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He was enchanted when he found out that all TFP members were consecrated to Our Lady as a slave of love according to the method of the great Marian apostle, Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort. Not being a man of half measures, he prepared each member of his immediate family to make this consecration to the Mother of God.
He also took to heart the Five First Saturdays devotion, requested explicitly by Our Lady at Fatima as a means of reparation for the sins committed against Her Immaculate Heart. He was not content with fulfilling Our Lady’s request but had all his children do likewise.
Commenting on the mercy of Our Lady, Dr. Plinio once said, “She sends the illness, but She also makes the bed.” Dr. Whitcraft’s final days clearly indicate how Our Lady did just that for him.
Assumptió Beátæ Maríæ Vírginis in cáelum
On June 27, Dr. Whitcraft suffered a heart attack and spent his remaining weeks in a St. Louis hospital fighting for life. During that time, he was strengthened by the sacraments of the Church, provided by the gracious hands of Msgr. Eugene Morris, pastor of the parish he frequented.
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In the early morning hours of August 15, his heart stopped on two occasions, but he was kept alive long enough for the family to arrive. Shortly before he died, he received the Apostolic blessing as Msgr. Morris recited the rosary with family members around his bed. Then Howard Martin Whitcraft breathed his last.
Days after his untimely death, while family members were reminiscing, his wife Rosalie recalled a day in the hospital two weeks before he passed, in which her husband kept repeating the Latin phrase: Assumptió Beátæ Maríæ Vírginis in cáelum (The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven). While she did not understand what this meant, it was a great consolation afterward when she realized that her husband had passed away on the feast of the Assumption.
Was he given to understand by Our Lady that he would die on the marvelous feast of Her Glorious Assumption into heaven? If so, he would have been jubilant. We will only know the answer to this question in eternity.
One thing is certain. Dr. Howard Martin Whitcraft’s one desire in life was to be perfect as His Heavenly Father is perfect. It seems more than appropriate that after he “ran the good race,” our Lady would choose to take him on such a significant day.