EDNA VIVIAN EARLE WHATLEY, loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away Thursday, March 8, 2018, after a short illness. Mrs. Whatley was a business education teacher in Floyd County for 29 years – Coosa High School (1962-1972) and Coosa Valley Technical School (1972-1991). A charter member of Garden Lakes Baptist Church, Mrs. Whatley currently was active in the Fellowship Sunday School Class and Women on Mission and previously served in the church choir and primary Sunday School. She also was an active member of Daughters of Berry, Alpha Delta Kappa, and AAUW, and had been a member of several professional teachers organizations.
Born in Curryville (Floyd County), GA, on September 19, 1925, to Laura Pearl Davis and Malcolm Landrum Earle, Edna Earle married Newton Anderson Whatley, of Plainville, in 1948. They were married for 59 years until his death in 2007. Their family of three children grew to number 16 at the time of her passing.
Mrs. Whatley is surrvived by
• children: Lynn Earle and Vicki Whatley of Rome; Laura Whatley Gunn of Rome; and, Rick and Vivian Whatley Marshall, of Apopka, FL;
• grandchildren: Stephen and Rosemary Whatley, Peter and Alyssa Whatley, Olivia Gunn, Adam and Sarah Gunn Van Pelt, Will Marshall and Leah Marshall; and,
• great-grandchildren: Jacob Van Pelt and Anderson Marshall. Her great-grands were the lights of her last years of life.
A life-long resident of Floyd County, Mrs. Whatley graduated from Model High School in 1941 and Berry College in 1945. Education was very important to her and she received a Master of Education in Business Education in 1968 from the University of Georgia and a Specialist in Education in 1976 from West Georgia College.
When she wasn't busy with family, church and school, Edna and Newton loved to travel. They traveled first across the U.S., then around the world cruising and touring. Over the years, she visited the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, England, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, countries surrounding the Mediterranean, and the Panama Canal.
A celebration of her life will be held at Garden Lakes Baptist Church on Sunday, March 11, 2018, at 2:00 pm, with a reception following in the church's fellowship hall. A private internment for family will be at Salmon Cemetery later that day. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Garden Lakes Baptist Church Building Fund will be appreciated.
