Robert "Bob" Applewhite

Bob Applewhite was born July 8, 1930 in Copiah County, Mississippi, to Guy and Odessa Hartley Applewhite. He was a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy. He was a licensed Pharmacist for Pearl River Drug, which he later owned and operated for many decades. Bob, along with his wife Bettye, founded and operated Apple's, LTD., former C & L Mercantile, in downtown Poplarville. He was an active member of First Baptist Church where he taught Sunday school and served on several committees throughout the years. One of his greatest passions was Downtown Poplarville. Bob and Bettye were active members of the Poplarville Area Chamber of Commerce and led many town beautification projects which are still fruitful to this day.

Along with their partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, they were founding members of the Blueberry Jubilee Council. Bob and Bettye also sponsored the first Baby Crawl and Pancake Breakfast at the Blueberry Jubilee. Because of his many civic contributions; including the full landscaping of the Town Green, Bob was a recipient of the "Citizen of the Year" award given by the Poplarville Chamber of Commerce. He lived his life in parallel with the motto "leave where you left a better than how you found it" and that was very evident in his service to the City of Poplarville.

Family members include his wife of 65 years, Bettye Herrington Applewhite; two children, Pamela (Kirk) LaHaye, Robert "Woody" Applewhite, Jr. ; two grandchildren, Natalie (Justin) Sablich, Nicholas (Aime`e) LaHaye; one great grandson, Lucas James LaHaye.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Guy and Odessa Applewhite; his wife of 68 years, Bettye Herrington Applewhite; siblings, Hugh Applewhite, Bettie Jarreau, Ernest Applewhite, Harold Applewhite, Carroll Applewhite, and Doris Hayes.

Memorial services will be held at First Baptist Church (203 S Main Street, Poplarville, MS, 39470) on Saturday, July 2nd, 2022. Visitation will be held from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm, with a Celebration of Life service following at 1:00 pm. The Applewhite's will welcome friends and family after the service at their home (208 W. Willie Street, Poplarville) for an open house.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to First Baptist Church (203 S Main St, Poplarville, MS, 39470) or Poplarville Main Street Beautification, c/o, Poplarville Chamber of Commerce (PO Box 367, Poplarville, MS, 39470).