Doris Wilhite

Doris Marie Felder Wilhite was the only child born to Charles Felder and Estella Goens Felder on December 18, 1929 in Galveston, Texas. She spent her childhood running along the beaches of Galveston while being raised by a grandmother, Mrs. Birdie LaCour, whom she revered. Known as “Dot,” she loved playing piano as a little girl and often was called to play at parties for her friends in Houston.

Doris attended and graduated from the historic Central High School in Galveston, the first high school for Black students in Texas. Central High School attracted students from all over the Galveston area and out-of-state. She often commented on the superb education she received at Central High. Black professionals with advanced degrees who could not get hired elsewhere due to segregation came to Central to teach. Imagine her surprise to discover, while pledging a sorority in college, that her Dean of Girls at Central High School, Mrs. Jessie McGuire Dent, was one of the founders of the sorority she was pledging, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Upon high school graduation, Doris matriculated at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. She spoke often of how her grandmother, “Ms. Birdie,” a maid, seamstress, and washerwoman, somehow made a way out of no way and sent her off to college. She said her grandmother was never late with a tuition payment and whom she fondly remembered attending every one of her school graduations, no matter where it was in the country.

While at Tuskegee, she was a member of the Tuskegee Golden Voices Choir under the conductorship of the legendary William L. Dawson, of whom she spoke with awe for the rest of her life. She also became a member of the Gamma Tau Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc. in 1950. Doris graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science in 1951. While in gymnastics class during her senior year at Tuskegee, the ROTC students acted as spotters for the ladies. It was there she met a handsome ROTC student, WWII Army Air Corps veteran, and Kappa (Alpha Psi) man named Willie Wilhite. From that meeting a romance blossomed, they married in 1951 and remained married for 51 years. Two children were born during that marriage - Cheryle Yolande Wilhite, deceased, and Deone Rouge Wilhite.

Doris believed in the power of education. Along with her Political Science degree from Tuskegee (Institute) University, she received a Master of Education in Public Administration Secondary Education from Texas Southern University, Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from the College of the Pacific, and a Master of Education in Mid-Management and Administration from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University). She has numerous certifications in Multicultural Education, Early Childhood Education, Reading Education, and Handbell Musicianship.

Professionally, Doris was a Piano Instructor for the Cape Music Academy in Melbourne, Florida; Choral Director for the U.S. Military; a paralegal; basketball coach; Audio Visual Technician for Texas Southern University; Music, Dance, and Social Studies Instructor for the Del Valle ISD; Research Analyst for the Texas Education Association; and an Educator/Teacher with the Austin Independent School District (AISD) for grades 1-3 from 1968 to 1992.

Sister Wilhite was a stalwart member of the Ebenezer Third Baptist Church of Austin, Texas, where she served as a Director of the Carol Choir for many years and inspired a love of music in many of her choir members. She received the Ebenezer Baptist Church Children’s Chorister Award in 1981. Affectionately known as the “Handbell Lady,” she founded the Handbell Ministry at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. She would schedule the Handbell choir almost every weekend at an event or worship service all over town. Most recently, in October 2023 she received a Certificate for Outstanding Service and Leadership. She was active in Sunday School, Baptist Training Union, Sanctuary Choir, Girls in Action, and Acteens, and

was voted the Ebenezer Woman of the Year in 1998. Many current and former Ebenezer members remember taking numerous out-of-state trips with her, as kids.

Doris was very active and a Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, serving as President of the Austin Alumnae Chapter and an advisor to the Epsilon Beta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. at the University of Texas at Austin. She also served as a chaperone for many eventful Delta Gems (formerly Delteens) Black College Tour trips in the 1980s and 1990s. She received the Delta Woman of the Year Award in 2000. She was a Life Time Member of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) Greater Austin Section. In 2018, she was honored with the Legacy Award for over 40 years of membership. Doris enjoyed demonstrating her musical skills by often playing the piano at the NCNW Teas.

Doris received numerous honors and awards, including the Black Austin Democrats 1980 Service Award, Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) Outstanding Service Award, AISD Superintendent’s Service Award, St. John Regular Baptist District Association Outstanding BOSS Award, Church Women United (CWU) Valiant Woman Award, State Farm Unsung Hero Award, Yellow Rose of Texas Award, and the AISD Hobart L. Gaines Human Relations Award.

Mrs. Wilhite thoroughly relished traveling and was a regular at the Denver Metro Hampton Alumni Ski Bonanzas every year. She introduced her son and daughter to skiing and routinely traveled with a local Women-In-Motion group on domestic and international trips. She loved studying the Bible and regularly participated in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). She loved to play piano every time she had a chance and even tried her hand at guitar. Her favorite piano solo was “God Has Smiled On Me” by James Cleveland. Her love of music was continued in her regular participation in the St. John Regular Baptist District Association choir and youth program teacher for several years.

Doris also loved to volunteer her time, having served the following entities: L.L. Campbell Elementary School, Del Valle Correctional Facility, University Medical Center at Brackenridge, Office of the Texas Governor, Salvation Army, National Council of Negro Women, Austin Retired Teachers Association (ARTA), Capital City Lions Club, League of Women Voters, and the ARC of the Capital Area. If you happened to be downtown on a Friday afternoon, you would often see her in front of the Texas State Capitol with the Women in Black as they protested against war and violence.

Mrs. Doris Marie Felder Wilhite was called home to be with our Lord on Sunday morning, January 7, 2024, at the Sedona Trace Rehabilitation Center in Austin, Texas. She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles Felder and Estella Goens Felder; her beloved grandmother, Birdie LaCour; her husband, Willie Wilhite; her daughter, Cheryle Yolande Wilhite; and her husband’s great niece, Cynthia Whitfield of El Paso, Texas. Those mourning her passing are one loving and devoted son, Deone R. Wilhite; Mrs. Beatrice Williams and the whole Williams family; her loving Ebenezer Third Baptist Church Family; her Sorors of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; a host of adoring former students, Carol Choir and Handbell Choir members, members of the St. John Regular Baptist District Association, and countless others whom she blessed and those who blessed her.

Doris’s mission in life can be summed up with a portion of the lyrics from Patti LaBelle’s “When you’ve been blessed”: ‘When you’ve been blessed - feels like heaven; I have faith; I have hope; and I trust in the day when the music from Heaven will show us the way.'