Tupelo " Dimple Whitaker, 54, died Monday, June 1, 2009, at The Meadows in Fulton after a valiant battle with cancer. She was born August 10, 1954, to Ed and Vera Gates in Ripley and lived her entire adult life in Tupelo. She worked with her husband at the family business, Whitaker Realty in Tupelo. Dimple was a member of St. Luke United Methodist Church and an active participant in the Friendship Sunday School Class. She was a multi-talented person, a devoted, caring friend, wife, mother, and grandmother who lived each day to the fullest. She took excellent care of her friends and her family, doing all she did with love. She was a former member of the Red Cross board and the board of the Tupelo Gum Tree Art Museum. She especially enjoyed gardening and grew beautiful flowers, which she enjoyed sharing with her friends.
Services will be 2:00 p.m. Thursday at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Tupelo with the Rev. Rick Brooks officiating assisted by Rev. Steve Drury. A eulogy will be delivered by Jaqueline Mask. Burial will be at Tupelo Memorial Park. W. E. Pegues Funeral Directors is in charge of the arrangements.
Survivors include her husband, Clyde Whitaker; her daughter, Amanda Brown Lancaster; her grandson, Austin Lancaster; her step son, Darrell Whitaker of Oxford, his wife Paula and their children, Joseph, Jack, and Martha; her step daughter, Beth Whitaker of Madison, Wisconsin; two sisters, Joyce Fitzsimmons of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Lonette Wilson of Tupelo; and her niece, Traci Harbor, of Tupelo.
She was preceded in death by her parents and an infant brother, Ed Gates, Jr.
Pallbearers will be Michael Blankenship, Jerry Bristow, Mike Greer, Tracy Mask, Rick Maynard, Bill Ratliff, Darrell Smith, and Jim Garrison.
Visitation will be 5 - 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 3, 2009, at the funeral home on Jefferson Street. The body will lie in state one hour prior to service time Thursday at the church.
Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or to a charity of your choice.
Expressions of sympathy may be left at
www.peguesfuneralhome.com