Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 PM, Sunday, November 14, 2021 at St. Luke United Methodist Church with the Rev. Thad Haygood and the Rev. Dr. Cindy Garrard officiating according to Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, Columbus, GA. Private burial will be at Parkhill Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the church one hour prior to the service.
Mr. Whatley was born in Dothan, AL, to Clarence Danzy Whatley and Pauline Brown Whatley. After graduating from Auburn University, Mr. Whatley owned and operated Tiger Bus Lines in Auburn, AL. He was owner/pharmacist for 15 years at Whatleys Pharmacy in Columbus, and retired as chief pharmacist at CVS Pharmacy, Hilton Avenue.
He was a member of St. Luke United Methodist Church and a past president of Georgia District 3 Pharmacy Association. He received the Most Outstanding President Award in 1985 for his work with the association. In 1992, he received the Merck Sharp & Dohme Award for outstanding achievement in the profession of pharmacy. Mr. Whatley was appointed by Governor Zell Miller to serve on the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy from 1992-97. He was a member of the Samford Society and a lifetime member of the Auburn Alumni Association. He had served most recently as an officer of the Coweta Falls Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution.
Survivors include his beloved wife, Martha Ruth Hill Whatley; three sons William Wayne Whatley, Jr. and his wife Joy, Montgomery, AL; Ansel Gideon Whatley, Columbus; and Clarence Hill Whatley, Auburn, AL, and grandchildren: Ansel Hill Whatley, Jane Elizabeth Tauber (Korry), William Wayne Whatley, III (Savanna); Stephanie Hope Whatley; Jacob Douglas Whatley: step- grandchildren, Steven Michael Campbell, Joy Michele Campbell; and great-granddaughter, Madilynn Whatley. He is also survived by a brother-in-law, L. David Hill, Baldwyn, MS.
He was preceded in death by five brothers: Edwin Monroe Whatley, Ansley Earl Whatley, Samuel Gompers Whatley, Felix Brown Whatley, and Clarence Frasier Whatley, and by two sisters, Mrs. Ray (Betty) Houghtby and Mrs. Frank (Ann) Sconyers.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Luke United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 867, Columbus, 31902 or to Columbus Hospice, 7020 Moon Rd., Columbus, GA, 31909.
