Dr. Cecil Francis Whitaker

A celebration of his life will be held in Columbus on Thursday, February 13, at 2 pm, at First Presbyterian Church, with the Reverend Danny Dieth officiating. A reception will follow in the church.

Cecil was born in Macon, GA, the only child of Mary Frances Watson Whitaker and Cecil Francis Whitaker. He was heavily influenced by his parents’ close friends, Drs. Evelyn Swilling & Raymond Suarez, married partner obstetricians and gynecologists (OB/GYNs) in Macon who sparked his love of that specialty and set the course of his career and his calling.

Cecil is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, Terry Glidewell Whitaker, and his three children — Betsy Whitaker & Rick Covington, Susan Whitaker & Dan Charron, and Frank Whitaker — and by six grandchildren — Becca Covington & fiancé Will Edwards, Richard & Libby Covington, Kathleen Charron & Lucas Schenke (& their on-the-way-baby, about whom “Dedoc” excitedly demanded every developmental detail), Joseph Charron & Hannah Drury, Powell Whitaker, and Benjamin Whitaker. Also left to mourn/celebrate are Terry’s brother, Pete Glidewell, of Elon, NC, and his wife, Beth; and beloved middle-Georgia Watson Family cousins.

After graduating in 1955 as the Valedictorian of Macon’s Lanier High School, Cecil received the Georgia Regional Scholarship to attend Duke University, where he met his future wife, Terry. He graduated from the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) in Augusta in 1962 on his oldest daughter’s first birthday. After his internship in Macon, he served as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy, during which the future OB/GYN found himself caring for a Destroyer Division populated solely by men, then delivering their babies when he was back in port in Norfolk and Camp LeJeune between deployments—once delivering 13 babies in a standout night. He then served his four-year residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at MCG. In 1969 Cecil joined OB/GYN Associates in Columbus, partnering with Drs. Harold Jarrell, Jack Lawler, and Bob Carpenter.

He always saw his work as a family venture, and he and Terry steeped their children in the pleasure of commitment and service to others. Their children waited for him to make hospital rounds, worked summers in the office, and attended medical conferences with their parents. They also absorbed (endured?) numerous home lectures on medical ethics and advancing medical technology—in keeping with his lifelong devotion to teaching, which helped launch the careers of numerous Georgia physicians.

Through it all, he believed he had been called to care for his patients. He experienced a special joy in sharing their happy times, which were frequent. But he also felt the importance of being close to patients and their families with love, honesty, and medical skill through their difficult times. As he shared in his 2003 retirement letter to his patients, “Words cannot describe how much I have enjoyed my practice and the confidence you have placed in me. I hope that you have felt that I was a part of your family; I surely have felt that you and your family were a part of mine.”

Professionally, he served as president of the MCG Alumni Association; board chair & an emeritus member of the Medical College of Georgia Foundation; a member of the State of Georgia Composite Board of Medical Examiners; president of the Georgia Obstetrical and Gynecological Society; and a member of the Advisory Board of South Atlantic Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Among the honors he received, in 1960, as a junior medical student, Cecil was named a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society. When he was a resident, in both 1967 & 1968 the medical students at MCG voted him the Golden Apple Award winner as their Best Resident Teacher. MCG has established an endowed chair in his honor, the Cecil F. Whitaker, Jr., Distinguished Chair in Cancer. Additionally, he received the 2011 Butler Physician Service and Leadership Award from St. Francis Hospital; the 2012 MCG Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award; and he was honored by the Miracle Riders in 2024, who named the new Mother & Baby Simulation Lab at Columbus State University’s School of Nursing for him.

After retiring from the practice of medicine, although he missed his patient relationships deeply, Cecil celebrated time spent with Terry, his family, his community service, and his many hobbies.

Long a faithful member of First Presbyterian Church, he served as an Elder, Deacon, and choir soloist. He enjoyed deep friendships within the community as an enthusiastic member of the B & B Investment Club; the Consolidated Consultants of Columbus; the Focus Study Club; Friday Friars Lunch Group; and the Rotary Club of Columbus, where he was both a Paul Harris Fellow and a Will Watt Fellow. He served on the boards of the Columbus Botanical Gardens, the Chattahoochee Valley Camellia Society, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and the state and national board of the French Brittany Dog Association (with his beloved dog Mae at his side).

He was a lifelong learner, always studying to deepen his understanding of the world and the human experience—and how we are called to respond to the needs of others. He had a wry sense of humor and dove into many serious discussions with a twinkle in his eye. He loved a good constructive argument and, in true fashion as a teacher, occasionally shifted his views in response to the input of others. But maybe only occasionally.

At the top of the list of the many descriptors of Cecil—devoted family man, music lover, thoughtful follower of God, moral compass, fantastic listener—he was always two things: curious and enthusiastic.

And that curiosity and enthusiasm led to a lifetime of fully-embraced hobbies: fishing (fly-, bone-, tarpon- bream-, and bass-fishing), often in far-flung locales; bird-hunting; skeet shooting; the ancillary shotgun shell-loading, fly tying, rod-making, and dog training; radio-controlled airplane building & flying; camellia propagation; sailing; kite-flying (who knew that could be competitive?); guitar-playing; singing; and voracious reading. He was a life-long lover of pets and populated his home with canine stars: Prince, Devil, Toby, Greta, Bo, Sam, Penny, and (leaving the best for last) Mae. He also (according to this writer) affectionately tolerated cats Cathryn, Jake, & Cleo.

Most of all, for 65 married years, Terry was his joyful true partner in all aspects of his life, working and playing right by his side (and offering suggestions—some taken, some not). They relished it together, whether that meant enjoying a four-star hotel at a conference or (more frequently) a cement-block fishing hut somewhere that lost electricity at 6 pm, or turning over rooms in the house to model airplane building or fly tying.

He leaves behind a legion of friends with deep relationships forged through these various activities. He made all of it fun for each of us involved in his life.

At what turns out to have been near the time of Cecil’s death early Friday morning, a family member dreamed vividly of receiving a phone call from Cecil, in which Cecil excitedly proclaimed, “I woke up this morning a new man!”

We believe that he indeed did, and we are grateful.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate the consideration of donations to any of these area organizations: First Presbyterian Church (1100 First Ave., Columbus, GA 31901; The Community Endowment at the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley (1340 13th St., Columbus 31901); MercyMed of Columbus (3702 2nd Ave., Columbus, GA 31904); the Columbus Campus of Mercer Medical School (Mercer Office of University Advancement, 1501 Mercer University Dr., Macon, GA 31207); or Columbus Hospice (7020 Moon Road, Columbus, GA 31909).

The service will be live-streamed via the Striffler-Hamby Mortuary Columbus website, https://www.dignitymemorial.com/funeral-homes/georgia/columbus/striffler-hamby-mortuary/4590.