Mary Lynn Whitten

She was born in Lynchburg on December 5, 1932 and was the daughter of the late Wilbur Carrington “Red” Whitten and the late Louise Poole Whitten.

Mary Lynn graduated from Lynchburg High School in 1951 and from Mary Washington College in 1955. She taught at Boonsboro High School for several years and then attended the Art Institute of Chicago. She lived in Chicago and Michigan City Indiana for the next 40 years working first at a pre-school and then for the Chicago social services as one of the first trained Head Start teachers. She retired as a social worker in Michigan City, Indiana and returned to Lynchburg in 1996. She loved working with and helping the children from broken homes and the disadvantaged elderly.

She is survived by her brothers, Wilbur Carrington Whitten, Jr. and his wife, Jean of Forest, Franklin Hardwell Whitten and his wife, Harriet of Lynchburg and Thomas Patterson Whitten and his wife, Susan of Bluffton, S.C. She is also survived by nine nieces and nephews and several cousins.

Angels are hard to find but some of their names are Peggy Catron, Mary June Hershberger, Flo Humbles, Kathy Martin, Andrea Stanley and the staff at Centra Hospice. Their love and compassionate care for Mary Lynn during her illness was beyond the call of duty. Thank you all.

A funeral service will be conducted at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, April 5, 2014, at Whitten Timberlake Chapel with the Reverend Christine Payden-Travers officiating. Interment will follow in Spring Hill Cemetery.

The family will receive friends from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday, April 4, 2014, at Whitten Timberlake Chapel.