Forrest Whitley, 74, of Irwin County, Georgia, died Sunday, January 29, 2006, at the Medical Center of Central Georgia, Macon, Georgia.
Funeral services will be held 2 P.M., Wednesday, February 1, 2006, at the Ocilla Church Of God, with Rev. Clayton Dowd and Rev. Bobby Stone officiating. Interment will follow in Old Valley Grove Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 7 until 9, Tuesday evening at the funeral home in Ocilla.
Mr. Whitley was born September 16, 1931, in Irwin County, Georgia, to the late Jimmie and Mollie Sirmans Whitley. He lived in Irwin County all of his life. Mr. Whitley was a farmer, former manager of the Irwin County Canning Plant and a former paper carrier for the Tifton Gazette. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War Era. Mr. Whitley attended Old Valley Grove Primitive Baptist Church.
Mr. Whitley is survived by his wife: Betty Joyce Whitley of Ocilla; children: Pam Gordon of Fitzgerald, Myra Taylor of Loganville, Wayne Whitley of Ocilla, Eddie Whitley of Fitzgerald, Dennis Whitley, Tim Whitley and Tracey Leverett, all of Ocilla; 23 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren; brothers: Dal-Jean Whitley of Lake Park and James Oswald Whitley of Tifton; sisters: Evelyn Sturgis and Mary Frances Minthorn, both of Tifton, Betty Pollard of Summerville, SC and Lyndia Pierce of Acworth. He was preceded in death by a great-granddaughter, Audrey Ann White, a great-grandson, Kelby McFerrin and a sister, Audrey Sumner.