Obit of Whitley, Lela Kathrine (w340) - Unknown County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 18 Aug 2004 Return to Unknown County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/okstate.html ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== LELA KATHRINE WHITLEY Published on February 14, 2001 The Santa Rosa Press Democratt Lela Kathrine Whitley died while doing the thing she enjoyed most: helping someone else. Whitley died Friday in Forestville at the age of 79. She suffered a heart attack while driving a friend to the grocery store. "She was always helping someone else," said a granddaughter, Teresa Riddle of Santa Rosa. "She helped everybody. If you didn't drive, she'd drive you." Born in Oklahoma to farmer parents, Whitley's family moved to Austin, Texas, where she grew up on a strawberry farm. In Texas, she met the late "Tex" Whitley and married him in 1939. They were married for 54 years. When her husband went into the Marine Corps during World War II, the Whitleys moved to Sonoma County to join another serviceman's family in Cazadero. They made their permanent home in Forestville in 1962. Whitley was a member of the Teamsters Union for 21 years, first at Electrovector in Forestville and later at apple canneries in the area. She loved traveling, gardening, crafts and was an avid collector of just about everything, her family said. She was a member of the Rebekah Lodge. "She was always there for someone else, caring for them," said Kathy Ramondo of Santa Rosa, another granddaughter. "Grandma was always on the go." Ramondo said one of her fondest memories of her grandmother was that she loved to hold hands. "She always loved to hold hands, no matter how old you were," she said. "That was just her." Whitley is survived by her daughter, Belle Maldonado of Greenfield; two sons, Del Whitley of Forestville and Roy Whitley of Eldridge; 11 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren and great-great- grandchildren. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Thursday. Interment will be at Forestview Cemetery in Forestville. Visitation is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at Parent-Sorensen Mortuary in Sebastopol. Memorial contributions may be made to Memorial Hospice, 558 B St., Santa Rosa 95401. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Unknown County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/okstate.html