Joe Whiteside

Tupelo " Joseph B. Whiteside, Sr., 83, died Sunday, September 14, 2008, at the North Mississippi Medical Center after a brief illness. A native and lifelong resident of Tupelo, he was born March, 25, 1925 to John Marion and Irene Tate Whiteside. He attended the Tupelo Public Schools and was a 1943 graduate of Tupelo High School. Upon graduation, he was immediately called into military service where he served in the infantry and the military police during World War II. After returning from the war, he enrolled at Mississippi State University where he graduated in 1949. On November 19th of that same year, he married Norma Jean Martin who preceded him in death on January 6, 1993. The day after graduation, he started working at Lee Wholesale, a wholesale grocery business in Tupelo, and served as the companys vice-president, president, and chairman of the board. In 1956, he helped open Triangle Distributors and among his many capacities there, he served as vice-president, president, and chairman of the board. A longtime member of First United Methodist Church, he was elected to the board of Stewards in the Methodist Church in 1950 where he continued to serve off and on throughout the remainder of his life. He served on the Yocona Boy Scout Council, the Mississippi State Development Foundation Board of Directors, the Mississippi State Business and Industry School Advisory Board, and the Community Development Foundation Board of Directors. As a member of the Tupelo Rotary Club, he served as club president in 1966, was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow, and served as a member of Rotary Foundation. He was a staunch supporter of Mississippi State University, the MSU Alumni Association and MSU Athletics where he was a member of the Bulldog Club, an MSU Endowed Scholarship Donor for athletics and for the College of Business and Industry. He funded the Joseph and Norma Jean Whiteside MBA Resource Room. He established the Norma Jean Whiteside Endowed Scholarship Fund. He served on the MSU Development Foundation, where he was a member of the Patrons of Excellence, Presidents Club, the Steven D. Lee Society, Eugene Butler Fellow and the Old Main Society.

Services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at First United Methodist Church with Rev. Andy Ray and Rev. Raigan Miskelly officiating. Burial will be in Tupelo Memorial Park. W. E. Pegues Funeral Directors is in charge of the arrangements.

Survivors include one daughter, Jan Whiteside Hillen and her husband, Reed, of Tupelo; one son Joe Whiteside, Jr., and his wife, Jana, of Jacksonville, Florida; one brother, David P. Whiteside of Melbourne, Florida; five grandchildren, Walter Reed Hillen, IV, of Knoxville, Margaret Anderson Hillen of London, England, Kathleen Tate Hillen of Birmingham, Elizabeth Whiteside of New Orleans, La. and John Whiteside of San Diego, Calif.

Pallbearers will be Mike Armour, James V. Bo Hemphill, Keith Gaskin, David Sparks, Scott Reed, and Travis Abney.

Honorary pallbearers will be Coach Ron Polk, Mike and Betty Black and the members of Wesley Fellowship Sunday School Class at First United Methodist Church,

Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, 412 West Main Street, Tupelo, Mississippi 38804, Mississippi State Development Foundation, P.O. Drawer 6149, Mississippi State, MS 39762, or the Mississippi State Bulldog Club, P.O. Drawer BT, Mississippi State, MS 39762.