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WOODVILLE — Richard “Dick” Whitaker, 93, of Woodville, died Friday, September 18, 2020 at Field Health System Hospital in Centreville, Mississippi.

He was born at Turnbull, Mississippi on October 20, 1926, the son of John and Mamie Woods Whitaker. He was one of seven children, four girls and three boys, all of whom preceded him in death. He was a retired cattle farmer and paper mill worker whose lifelong hobby of reloading ammunition and target shooting were special delights along with spending time with family and friends. He enlisted in the Merchant Marine during World War II at the age of seventeen and made a number of dangerous Atlantic convoy crossings when German U-boats still roamed the waters. Later he joined the United States Army and served in the 11^th Airborne Division. While his regiment was training for deployment to Korea during the Korean War he suffered a badly shattered ankle on his seventeenth training jump and spent ten months in an army hospital which he described as the best and easiest duty of his entire life.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Mavis McMillan Whitaker and is survived by three sons Mitchell Burton Whitaker and John Ramon Whitaker of Woodville and Richard Lynn Whitaker, Jr. of Layton, Utah as well as five grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Pallbearers will be Moose Tolbert, Randy Whetstone, Eli Whitaker, Mitchell Whitaker Jr., Jason Whitaker, and John Ramon Whitaker Jr.

Visitation from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tuesday, September 22nd at Newman’s Funeral Home in Woodville, Mississippi. Graveside service at the Whitaker Family Cemetery officiated by Reverend Warren Whitaker will immediately follow visitation. The family wishes to thank the staff at Wilkinson County Senior Care as well as the loving staff at Field Health System Hospital for their wonderful kindness and warm consideration. Thanks too to all the friends and other family members for the many calls of condolence.