Delores Ann Whatley's Obituary
Delores Ann Whatley
With children and grandchildren at her bedside, Delores Ann Henson Whatley passed away peacefully on October 17, 2016 in Longview, Texas. She was born September 18, 1930 in Dallas, Texas, the only child of Louis Bryan and Ann Scott Henson of Mt. Pleasant, Texas.
As a child, during WWII, her family moved to St. Louis, Missouri as her father served in the U.S. Navy and her mother worked for the Union Pacific railroad company. Her favorite recollections were of her summers spent back on her beloved grandparents’ farm in Mt. Pleasant surrounded by uncles, aunts and cousins. During a time of world war, in safe east Texas, sweet and loving memories were made which she shared with her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren throughout her lifetime.
After graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1948 at the age of 17, Delores was accepted at St. Paul School of Nursing in Dallas, Texas from where she graduated in 1951 as a Registered Nurse. Delores trained at Parkland Hospital (Dallas), De Paul Hospital (New Orleans), and the Dallas City Health Department. She moved to Tyler, Texas where she was a nursery supervisor at the Tyler Medical Center Hospital.
On a providential blind date at Tyler State Park she met the love of her life, David Preston Whatley. They married on September 27, 1952, and for the next 63 years, they continued a loving and devoted partnership as they raised and nurtured their three children. Their wedding anniversaries were often celebrated at Tyler State Park by “returning to the scene of the crime,” as they would playfully say.
David’s work for Humble Oil and Refining Company (later Exxon) meant the newlyweds moved seventeen times in seventeen years across Texas and Louisiana. These frequent relocations provided an opportunity to develop strong marital bonds and test their mettle as they raised their young family.
Delores served in many capacities during these moves. She was an emergency, medical, and surgery supervisor for the New Iberia, Louisiana General Hospital and an obstetrics supervisor for the Iberia Parish Hospital. When the family eventually settled in Ballinger, Texas in 1964, Delores was hired as the evening supervisor of both the emergency room and obstetrics floor for Ballinger Memorial Hospital. She later became the Runnels County School Nurse. In 1972, she was the Family Planning Registered Nurse for Central Texas Opportunities in Coleman, Texas. And as proud as she could be of her many professional accomplishments, she would also remind you that she made all those moves with her Tupperware intact and without losing the kids’ baby books!
In 1974 David and Delores relocated to Longview, Texas to care for their elderly parents, but Delores still found plenty of work to do. She organized and established the first family planning clinic in Longview which provided basic healthcare services to minority and economically challenged populations. After retiring from nursing, she began a second career selling Avon Products for 34 years, making her last customer delivery just 2 weeks ago. She participated in 901 Avon campaigns and many of her customers became life-long friends.
Her devotion to family coupled with her nursing skills served as a loving gift to David in his later years. Until his death in 2015, Delores enabled him to stay and leave this world peacefully in their home of 40 years by providing his nursing care twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
We will always remember Delores, Mom, Grandmother for many things:
…she always had a meal ready to go on the stove, on the road, or in the camper; she never met a grocery store she didn’t love - particularly Brookshire’s and its friendly employees; she made the best buttermilk cake ever; she always had an ice chest with “sandwiches for the trip home” ready for you; there were always coloring books and special treats in the camper for the grandkids; and best of all - she loved her children (in-laws, out-laws, grands, great-grands, and dogs) all unconditionally.
She is preceded in death by her parents Louis and Ann Henson and her beloved husband David. She is survived by her son David and daughter-in-law Cathie of Leander, Texas; son Danny and daughter-in-law Vilma of El Paso, Texas; daughter Debra Tietje and son-in-law Barry of Elton, Louisiana; granddaughters Adrian Whatley Graham, Alyssa Whatley, Amanda Whatley, grandson Austin Whatley; great-grandchildren Gabriel and Gannon Martinez, and Jude Graham.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to: Highway 80 Rescue Mission, P.O. Box 3223, Longview, Texas 75606.
Celebration of Life Services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, October 29, 2016, in the Chapel of Rader Funeral Home of Longview. Burial will follow in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Mt. Pleasant. Visitation will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Friday at the funeral home
I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty, will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.
Florence Nightingale Pledge 1893
A memorial guestbook may be signed at www.raderfh.com
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