Reverend Whiting

Lake Junaluska-The Reverend Doctor Thomas Acree Whiting, age 87, of Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, died Thursday, August 19, 2004. He was born June 21, 1917 in Camilla, Georgia, the son of the late Julian Deming and Kathleen Acree Whiting, Sr. He received his Bachelor's Degree at Emory University where he was active in the Student Council, Emory Christian Association, Kappa Alpha Social Fraternity, and soloist in the Emory Glee Club and was elected to Omicron Delta Kappa and the Senior Honor Society. He attended Candler School of Theology and Yale Divinity School, from which he received a Master of Divinity degree. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity by Lambuth University. Dr. Whiting served as a United Methodist minister from 1944 until his retirement in 1986. He served 21 years in the South Georgia conference at churches in Hiltonia, Meighs-Oclocknee, Ocilla, Jesup, Valdosta, and Savannah and was District Superintendent of the Macon District; 21 years in the North Georgia Conference at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Decatur First United Methodist Church in Decatur and Superintendent of the Atlanta-Emory District from which he retired. He moved to Lake Junaluska, NC in 1988 and was active for several years in the First United Methodist Church of Waynesville, NC. He was guest speaker at many United Methodist groups throughout the country. He was the author of several published books and many articles in United Methodist periodicals and other religious publications; delegate to numerous conferences and a member of many committees of the United Methodist Church; visiting professor at Candler School of Theology and active in Kiwanis Clubs. In 1981 he was selected as the United Methodist preacher for the Protestant Radio Hour. After his retirement, he directed fund raising campaigns in churches throughout the Southeast. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Martha Page Whiting; a son, Thomas A. Whiting, Jr.; a daughter, Linda Whiting Porter; a son-in-law, Clay Porter; a brother Julian Deming Whiting, Jr.; and two sisters, Rebecca Whiting Jones and Gladys Whiting Glenn. He is survived by his wife, Helen Knarr Thurmond Whiting; a daughter, Dr. Peggy Whiting and her husband, Ben Lancaster of Charlotte, NC; a daughter, Diane Thurmond Lee and her husband, Randy Molner, of Nashville, TN: a son, Gene Thurmond and his wife, Christine, of Eugene, OR; grandchildren, Joshua Clayton Porter, Martha Paige Porter, Chamisa Coggins, and Andrew and Nicole Thurmond; and two great-grandsons, Brennan Coggins and Matthew Melton; a brother, George Whiting; sisters, Florence Findlay, Eunice Bryanton, Ruth Culbreth, and Julianne Fish, and extended family, Jay and Jan Porter Orzech, their children, Kelley Palmer, Jennifer Porter, Caroline Porter, Nicole Orzech, and Natalie Orzech. Services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 21, 2004 at the First United Methodist Church of Waynesville, NC. Bishop L. Bevel Jones, Reverend Dr. John Christy, and Reverend Dr. Garland Young will officiate. The family will receive friends in the narthex following the services. An additional service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 22, 2004 at Patterson's Arlington Chapel, Atlanta, Georgia (404) 851-9900. Reverend Dr. Albert E. Clarke will officiate. Interment will follow at Arlington Memorial Park. The family will receive friends following the committal service at the cemetery. Memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church Building Fund, P.O. Box 838, Waynesville, NC 28786 or Givens Estates, United Methodist Retirement Community, 2360 Sweeten Creek Road, Asheville, NC 28803.

Previous Events