Some sixty-five years ago I entered this world as William Timothy Whitaker on February 22, 1951, son of Jax E. and Muriel K. (McCabe) Whitaker, in Sedalia, MO. The family became complete fourteen months later with the arrival of my brother Ted Alan. My soul went to be with the Glory of Jesus on Friday, January 15, 2016.

I had to go to school like everyone else and liked it. Elementary school was mostly Eugene Field then Pershing Jr. High and onto Glendale H.S., class of '69, where many friendships began and continued to this day. I attended MO Southern State College my freshman year after which I enrolled at SMSU and went on to graduate with a BS in business finance.

My main interest was sports, primarily football. Early life in sports included Kiwanis little league, Mighty Mite football, swimming at the "Y", and two trips to Canada fishing (first time with dad, brother, Johnny Morris-always had a pole near, and his dad John). In '64-'65 at Pershing Jr. High, I was QB and punter where thanks to the talent of the rest of the team we were city champs going undefeated and unscored upon at 6-0. That team stayed mostly together and our senior year we were Ozark Conference Champs. My final year of football was at MSSC in Joplin where I was varsity punter and backup QB. That summer in '70, my mother passed away, whereas, I returned to Springfield. I worked for Whitaker & Co., the family business during summers and after graduation.

At Glendale I participated in student body, Key Club, and as Senior Class President. High school was a great time because of the great classmates, the '60's music, (Elvis of course), Perry Mason, Bonanza, Laugh-In, etc. Most enjoyable – a blast from the past – Table Rock Lake. I was heavily hearted over the loss of so many wonderful people in Southeast Asia, some of whom I knew well. Hard to imagine that back then our returning soldiers were treated with such disregard and disrespect.

I was a member of Elks Lodge, #409.

Preceding me in death were my parents, brother Ted and my friend Laserdog- a Shar-Pei.

For my several months of illness, my love Marietta Lack was always by my side. Also, surviving are Mary's family; my niece, Courtney K. Whitaker, Rogersville; and sister-in-law, Beth. Thanks to doctors: H. Osborne, G. Ledger and T. McClain.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Developmental Center of the Ozarks, 1545 E. Pythian, Springfield, MO 65802. Cremation is under the direction of Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home. Memorial services will be held at 2:00pm Saturday, January 23, 2016 at Elks Lodge, #409.

Let's remember "The Golden Rule," God Bless!