Carroll Julian “Whit” Whitfield went home to be with his Lord on Thursday, April 23, 2015 following a brave battle with Parkinson's disease and melanoma. A celebration of praise and thanksgiving for his life will be held on Monday, April 27, 2015 in the Sanctuary of First Baptist Church at 11:00 a.m. with Dr. Wayne Roe officiating. Mr. Whitfield will be laid to rest at the Historic Bryant Cemetery on Bryant Road in Reno at 4:00 p.m. Monday, April 27, 2015. The family will receive friends on Sunday, April 26, 2015, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Bowen Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Craig Jones, Tracey Walden, Carey Parrish, Tyrone Dean, Landon Maxwell and Russell Collins will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Ron and Judy Evans, Milton and Joan Newberry, Gail and Armine Russell, Bill and Marilyn Arnold, Joe and Bette Turner, Jimmy Tomberlin, Lynn and Margaret Kelley, Frank and Janet McGill and his departmental Sunday school classes.
The son of the late Charles and Carolyn Amanda Bryant Whitfield, he was born on February 24, 1931 in Reno, Georgia. Shortly after his birth, his mother passed away. His five adoring siblings helped their father to raise him. His step-mother Kate Dixon Whitfield loved him as her own child.
Whit was a precocious child who showed an interest in engineering at an early age. He loved to make “flutter mills” using a joint of sugar cane, sliced down the center and wrapped with cane skin to make a wheel. He put them in ditches and ponds and watched them go – even generating power to light them at night. He graduated from Cairo High School in 1948 and pursued his interest in mechanical engineering. He attended Middle Georgia College in Cochran for two years and then transferred to Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta. At Georgia Tech he was on the co-op plan taking classes for a quarter followed by a quarter of working at Sonoco Products, in Hartsville, South Carolina. He enjoyed practicing his engineering skills and living in a boarding house with other young people. He was inducted into Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society and in 1955 he graduated from Georgia Tech with a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering. That summer he attended Army R.O.T.C. Camp at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Aberdeen, Maryland, with his fiancée Laura Susan Gandy of Tallahassee, Florida, to pin on his 2nd Lieutenant bars. They married on December 27, 1955 and moved to Aberdeen, Maryland, where he completed his military obligation. Whit resumed his position at Sonoco Products, Co. and while there, he was given the opportunity to design an automatic nailing machine for a company in Perry, Florida. After completing this project, he accepted a position with Lilliston Implement Co. in Albany, Georgia, where he designed farm machinery for ten years. He was a Senior Project Engineer whose main responsibility was designing peanut harvesting equipment - peanut combines and digger shakers. This set the course of his future career.
In 1967 Whit became a founding partner of Kelley Manufacturing Company (KMC) originally located in Columbus, Georgia, and later moved to Tifton. He served as Vice-President and was in charge of engineering and production. While at KMC, Whit designed many products. One of his best known designs is the KMC Peanut Inverter. Prior to this time, peanuts dug from the ground were left on the soil resulting in loss of nuts due to rain, etc. The Peanut Inverter (widely used today) flipped the peanut plants over so that the foliage touched the ground protecting the peanuts resulting in a greater yield of nuts. He had no way of knowing that his machine would dramatically change peanut farming in the South thereby providing a rich source of protein around the world.
After thirteen years with KMC, Whit started his own company- First Products – meaning first in design and first in quality. He continued to design farm equipment and added turf machinery. His main turf machine is called the AERA-vator which was and is a new concept in aerating lawns, playgrounds, golf courses, parks, etc. Whit’s name appears on many patents for the farm and turf industry. First Products continues to be a successful company.
A humble man, Whit never sought the spotlight. He was a very positive person with a great sense of humor. He enjoyed his profession and worked with confidence during his 40 year career as an engineer. The reward for his diligence was the creation of quality machines that helped others. He was always the first to give credit to the many people who assisted him in the design and development of products.
Whit served on the Georgia Tech Scholarship Committee and delighted in awarding scholarships to deserving young people in Tifton. He was an active member of the Tifton Lion’s Club and the Georgia Society of Agricultural Engineers, serving as president of this organization. As a member of the First Baptist Church of Tifton for about 42 years, Whit was active in Sunday school and always ready to serve others.
At the age of 72, Whit retired to spend more time at his farm in Grady County, Georgia. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease soon afterwards. He bravely coped with the disease – never complaining and continuing to be as active as the disease would allow. As other health issues emerged, he met each challenge with calmness and peace. Whit was a wise, loving and generous father and husband who always put others first. He will be greatly missed by his family and many friends.
Survivors include his beloved wife of 59 years, Laura Susan Gandy Whitfield of Tifton; his children, Amanda (David) Carmichael of Tifton; Julia Whitfield of Cairo, Georgia, and Miles Whitfield of St. Croix, Virgin Islands. His precious grandchildren, Hunter (Brandi) Carmichael of Nashville, Tenn.; Haley Hale of Tifton and Heath (Jessica) Carmichael of Tifton; his special joy and delight- great grandchildren Levi Hale, Liam Carmichael, Sumner Carmichael, Will Carmichael and McCall (Mac) Carmichael; his sisters, Peggy (Donald) Walden and Sylvia Collins, both of Cairo and many beloved nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents and his step-mother, he was preceded in death by his older brothers and sisters, Merle Henderson, Rebecca Van Meter, Vannye Dady, Clyde Whitfield and Hubert Whitfield.
The family thanks the kind sitters of Linda Gray Joiner’s Agency. Memorials to honor Whit may be given to First Baptist Church of Tifton, 404 Love Avenue, Tifton, GA 31794 or Reno Community Center, c/o Walter Maxwell, 150 Byron Street, Cairo, GA 39828.