Elvis Garrett Whitten

Elvis “Garrett” Whitten, passed way, in the early morning hours, of Monday, December 23, 2024, after suffering from a long illness.  His immediate Family and a good friend, were with him shortly, before he passed away.  

Elvis “Garrett”, was born and raised, in Hanford, California, October 3, 1955, to his parents, Alfred and Kathryn Whitten.  His parents were both, dedicated teachers, at Hanford High School, his Mother taught, Home Economics, and his Father, taught, Economics and History.

Garrett, had never married, (but had more than one girl) who wanted to be his wife.  He is survived by his sister, Candace “Whitten” Fraser, her husband, Jim Fraser, and their son, Garrett Fraser and his wife, Jamie, children, Gentry and Jackson Fraser.  His other relatives, live in Montana and Texas.  His Parents and Brother, are pre-deceased from him.

Garrett was a 1973 Graduate of Hanford High School, and he attended Cal Poly College, San Luis Obispo. 

His family owned a small 100-acre irrigated farm, off of Highway 43, on the outskirts of Hanford.  There he learned the “lessons of farming”, taught to him by his father, Alfred who grew up, farming in Texas. 

Together with his Father and a younger brother Kevin, they enjoyed “working the land”, growing cotton, sunflowers, and other agriculture staples.  The two sons’…“learned the farming trade”… first hand, and enjoyed it.

In the early 1980’s, the family sold their small farm and purchased a 1,500 acre farm in Moree, New South Wales, Australia, and named it: “Tarcoola”.   There, Garrett, brother Kevin and their Father, planted cotton, and began farming over there … “Down Under”, for a number of years.

Garrett earned his Pilot’s License while in Australia, and after the Family purchased a second 2,200 acre Farm in Mungindi, N.S.W, Garrett would load up his, Cessna 210 aircraft, full of supplies and fly them, to that Farm, 121 kilometers, away from Moree; that his younger brother and Dad were developing.

Living and farming in Australia, was quite an “accomplishment” for two young boys and a “forward thinking” Father from Texas, during that time. 

Later in his life, the Family sold their farms in Australia, and Garrett returned to Hanford, attended Fresno State, and graduated with a degree in Agriculture Pest Control management. 

Garrett then became an Agriculture Pest Control Advisor, for some of the leading Pest Control Farming Companies, in the Central Valley.

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