Wilma Newsome Whiddon
March 11, 1907 — February 4, 2012
Wilma Newsome Whiddon, 104, of Phenix City, AL died Saturday, February 4, 2011 at Canterbury Healthcare Facility.
Funeral services will be 2:00 P.M. Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at McMullen Funeral Home Chapel with Dr. LeBron Matthews officiating. Burial wll be held in Lakeview Cemetery, Phenix City, AL. The family will receive friends from 1:00 - 2:00 P.M. Tuesday at the funeral home, 3874 Gentian Blvd., Columbus, GA.
Mrs. Whiddon was born March 11, 1907 in Phenix City, AL (then known as Girard, AL), daughter of the late Joseph Fletcher Newsome and Rosa Statham Newsome. Mrs Whiddon worked in textile manufacturing for over 50 years before retiring from Columbus Mill in 1972. She was a member of Eastern Heights Baptist in Columbus, GA. She loved homemaking and enjoyed gardening, canning, sewing, cooking, crafts, singing and dancing. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She was a wonderful caregiver to not only her two husbands, but to many of her siblings and other family members and friends whom she visited regularly until well into her 90's.
Other than her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband Grady Simmons in 1966 and her second husband, Jessie Whiddon in 2003; sons, Hugh and Cecil Simmons: daughter, Betty Holloway; grandchildren, Kathy Simmons and Michael Holloway; brothers, Olen, Robert, Ruben, Benjamin and Hubert Newsome; sisters, Myrtle Meredith, Lucille Arrington, Josie Durden, Zera Hand, Violet Stringfellow and Agnes McClure; and several nieces and nephews.
Survivors include her daughter, Dottie Hudson (Charles) of Smiths Station, AL; daughter-in-law, Marty Simmons of Columbus, GA; four stepdaughters, Frances Parker (J.R.) and Shirley Owens all of Columbus, GA, Helen Avant of Pensacola, FL and Doris Kirkland (Robert) of Tampa, FL; ten grandchildren, Orie Simmons (Ellen), Rebecca Holloway Hall (David), Billy Ellis (Cindy), Sharon Ellis, Tony Ellis (DeeDee), Debbie Berley, Amy Singell (Tim), Joey Ellis (Amanda), Chris Simmons (Cynthia) and Lynn Burnett; 17 great grandchildren and ten great great grandchildren. She is also survived by a number of step grandchildren, step great grandchildren and step great great grandchildren and by a number of nieces and nephews and friends.
The family would like to thank the staff from Columbus Hospice for their special and loving attention to Mrs. Whiddon and also to the nurses and aides at Canterbury Nursing Home for their love and care. Also, the family would like to thank the staff at Lakewood Senior Living of Smiths Station, AL for their love and devotion to her.
Flowers will be accepted but those so desiring may make contributions to Eastern Heights Baptist Church General Fund, 1342 17th Street, Columbus, GA 31901.
Funeral services will be 2:00 P.M. Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at McMullen Funeral Home Chapel with Dr. LeBron Matthews officiating. Burial wll be held in Lakeview Cemetery, Phenix City, AL. The family will receive friends from 1:00 - 2:00 P.M. Tuesday at the funeral home, 3874 Gentian Blvd., Columbus, GA.
Mrs. Whiddon was born March 11, 1907 in Phenix City, AL (then known as Girard, AL), daughter of the late Joseph Fletcher Newsome and Rosa Statham Newsome. Mrs Whiddon worked in textile manufacturing for over 50 years before retiring from Columbus Mill in 1972. She was a member of Eastern Heights Baptist in Columbus, GA. She loved homemaking and enjoyed gardening, canning, sewing, cooking, crafts, singing and dancing. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She was a wonderful caregiver to not only her two husbands, but to many of her siblings and other family members and friends whom she visited regularly until well into her 90's.
Other than her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband Grady Simmons in 1966 and her second husband, Jessie Whiddon in 2003; sons, Hugh and Cecil Simmons: daughter, Betty Holloway; grandchildren, Kathy Simmons and Michael Holloway; brothers, Olen, Robert, Ruben, Benjamin and Hubert Newsome; sisters, Myrtle Meredith, Lucille Arrington, Josie Durden, Zera Hand, Violet Stringfellow and Agnes McClure; and several nieces and nephews.
Survivors include her daughter, Dottie Hudson (Charles) of Smiths Station, AL; daughter-in-law, Marty Simmons of Columbus, GA; four stepdaughters, Frances Parker (J.R.) and Shirley Owens all of Columbus, GA, Helen Avant of Pensacola, FL and Doris Kirkland (Robert) of Tampa, FL; ten grandchildren, Orie Simmons (Ellen), Rebecca Holloway Hall (David), Billy Ellis (Cindy), Sharon Ellis, Tony Ellis (DeeDee), Debbie Berley, Amy Singell (Tim), Joey Ellis (Amanda), Chris Simmons (Cynthia) and Lynn Burnett; 17 great grandchildren and ten great great grandchildren. She is also survived by a number of step grandchildren, step great grandchildren and step great great grandchildren and by a number of nieces and nephews and friends.
The family would like to thank the staff from Columbus Hospice for their special and loving attention to Mrs. Whiddon and also to the nurses and aides at Canterbury Nursing Home for their love and care. Also, the family would like to thank the staff at Lakewood Senior Living of Smiths Station, AL for their love and devotion to her.
Flowers will be accepted but those so desiring may make contributions to Eastern Heights Baptist Church General Fund, 1342 17th Street, Columbus, GA 31901.
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