Colonel Lee O’Neal Whitley, 85, of Vestavia Hills, Alabama, passed away peacefully Sunday, January 7, 2024, after years of courageously battling a rare type of Parkinson’s Plus Syndrome, Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), due to Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam.
Visitation will be at Ridout's Southern Heritage Funeral Home in Pelham, Alabama on Thursday, January 25, 2024 from 10-11 a.m. CST, followed by A Celebration of Colonel Whitley's Life at 11 a.m. CST at the funeral home, 475 Cahaba Valley Road, Pelham, AL 35124.
As he wished, Colonel Whitley will be buried at Alabama National Cemetery, Montevallo. The gravesite committal service, with full military honors, will be at 2 p.m. CST on Thursday, January 25.
Lee was born January 11, 1938 in Muscadine, Alabama, the second child of Aubrey and Elma Whitley. He grew up in Muscadine and DeArmanville, Alabama, and later lived in Germany, Mississippi, Vietnam, California, Ohio, Oklahoma, Iran, Georgia, and Texas before he returned to Alabama.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 61 years, Ellen Davis Whitley; his mother and father, Elma and Aubrey Whitley; grandson, Max K. Colby; mother-in-law, Kate Henderson Davis; and sister, LaNelle Willingham. Others who preceded him in death include his niece, Jennifer Whitley Pope; nephew, Michael Whitley; and caregiver, Tyera Johnson.
Colonel Whitley is survived by his children, Dr. Michelle Whitley Turner of Ohio, Cynthia Kay (Richard) Colby of Ohio, and Mitchell Lee (Tammy) Whitley of Kentucky; former son-in-law, Mark Turner (Patti Bryan) of Ohio; honorary adopted son, David Blake (partner, Jess Lim) of Georgia; and grandchildren, Althea Smith, Dr. Elizabeth Turner and husband Levi Coey, Logan Smith, Alexander Turner, Austin Whitley, Ashley Whitley, and Maxton Colby.
Lee also is survived by his siblings, Dale (Carolyn) Whitley, Charles (Gloria) Whitley, Roy (Shelba) Whitley, Anita (Kenneth) Hedgepath, and Ken Whitley; Davis family brothers- and sisters-in-law, Donald “Don” (Edna) Davis, Jr.; Robert “Bob” (Mary) Davis, and Janet Davis (Larry) Barkley; Michael Mueller, husband of Lee’s late nephew, Michael Whitley; former sister-in-law Agnes Davis; former brother-in-law William Willingham; and many other nieces, nephews, neighbors, and friends.
Also cherishing memories of Lee are his wonderful caregivers, April Allen, Nene Ocasio, Ulrisha Allen, Earline Johnson, Aaliyah Vickers, and Tia Fain. Lee's family thanks them for loving him dearly and giving him outstanding, 24-hour-a-day care, along with many laughs, for years.
Lee earned his undergraduate degree in business administration during four years of ROTC at the University of Alabama. Later, he earned his master’s degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma, and he completed numerous training programs in the U.S. Air Force.
He joined the Air Force in July 1960 and concluded his 30 years of distinguished military service in July 1990. Throughout his career, he was promoted to positions of increasing authority and rank, with his final rank of full Colonel and his final position as Commander of DPRO PEMCO Aeroplex in Birmingham, Alabama.
Previously, Colonel Whitley served as Chief of the Weapons Systems Division in San Antonio, Texas; Chief of the Contracting Division at Headquarters AFLC at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio; and Contracting Advisor to Iran in Tehran. He also served as Chief of the Accounting and Finance Office in California and in Vietnam.
Colonel Whitley was awarded numerous decorations, medals, badges, citations, and campaign ribbons including the Defense Superior Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters, Joint Oak Leaf Service Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal with Cluster, Air Force One Outstanding Unit Award with Valor and Three Oak Leaf Clusters, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Vietnam Service Medal with Three Service Stars. He also earned an Air Force Overseas Short Tour Ribbon, Air Force Overseas Long Tour Ribbon with One Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Force Longevity Service Award Ribbon with Six Oak Leaf Clusters, Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, Air Force Training Ribbon, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Away from the office, Lee was a mechanical genius with cars and could fix and rebuild anything. When he bought his 1934 Ford, it was a bare frame with boxes and boxes of parts. Over the years, he rebuilt it twice and painted it the first time with a tiny paintbrush for models. The kids all loved “The Little Blue Car” (still named so after he painted it burgundy) with its rumble seat, and it is being restored again as a testament to Lee’s talent and determination. He taught all three of his kids how to work on their cars and how to hand-sand their first cars for him to paint, with a second time for Michelle’s Maverick after an unfortunate experience with barbed wire.
Lee was so proud of Cyndi’s career in computer programming, thrilled to hear all about Mitch’s engineering career, and eventually stopped worrying that Michelle’s English degrees would result in her having to serve French fries at McDonald’s all her life. (Happily for all involved, including McDonald’s, that never came to pass.)
Lee bonded with Mitch over rebuilding cars from his Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 and 1934 Ford to multiple Thunderbirds, a Mustang convertible, Toyotas, Hondas, and more. Lee and Cyndi shared a love of gardening, swapping tips and seeds; and the Colonel and Michelle spent time together as Lee repaired the things Michelle’s various pets chewed up around the house. Lee modified everything to make it work better for his purposes from sprinklers to handcarts to toasters; insisted on visiting his children as adults rather than having them visit him so he could work on projects with them at their houses; and laughed at the funny musical cards and t-shirts the kids sent him.
When Colonel Whitley’s health would no longer allow him to work on cars, he focused on one of his lifelong passions, watching old westerns like "Gunsmoke," anything with Clint Eastwood, and car shows. Lee and his kids spent countless hours together watching Marshal Dillon and the good guys and their horses save the day. He took great delight in talking and laughing with his caregivers, neighbors, and family about the small things in life that so often are the big things. A unique character himself, Lee lived his life his own way just as his cowboy heroes did. He rode off into the sunset with our love.
Lee had signed up to be an organ donor and offered his medical records for research into Parkinson’s Plus Syndrome, MSA type.
All of us who loved Lee thank his doctors, including Dr. Bill Naguszewski, who first diagnosed Lee with this rare type of Parkinson’s Plus Syndrome and helped him through this journey every step of the way; Dr. Amanda Reeves, Linda Hoffmann, his home-health nurses, Tracie Silver of Floyd EMS, the EMTs, Dr. Nicole Leonard, Dr. Jeffrey Talbot, Dr. Gilbert, Dr. Martin, and everyone else at AdventHealth Redmond and Atrium Health Floyd hospitals for doing all they could for Lee from expert care to his peaceful passing. You are appreciated.
We also want to thank the many Vestavia Hills neighbors who went above and beyond for Lee. These kind friends include Tom and Sheri Boston, and Wally and Pat Fuller. Lee loved you all and you made such a difference to him. Thank you!
We thank you for your love, kindness, and friendship to our dad and us, and we wish you comfort in your favorite memories of Colonel Lee O’Neal Whitley. Rest in peace, Dad. We love you.
In memory of Lee, his family appreciates your kind thoughts of him. If you wish and are able to give, a favorite charity of Lee's was the Disabled American Veterans.
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