Reverend Phil Whitten

You may look at this picture and wonder if you know this man….and likely you do, or at least recognize him. He was known for getting on an elevator in a hospital or other building and ask you if you were going up? And then he would reply, “I am….ALL THE WAY UP.” He was a man deeply concerned for his fellow man and woman and their relationship to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It wasn’t a show, it was for real with him. Upon the necessity of caring for Dad we learned that he had a very long prayer list, many, many people were or have been on his list over his life time.

Brother Phil was called to the ministry as a young teen and began serving the Lord by leading music in his hometown of Muskogee, Oklahoma. He was formally trained at Tulsa University receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. He served churches in that capacity throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Arkansas. He was called to the preaching ministry in 1975 and resigned from Grand Avenue Baptist Church as Minister of Music and Youth to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He received his Masters of Divinity and was called to the First Baptist Church of Muldrow, Oklahoma for his first pastorate. He served there from 1977 to 1983. Next he was called to Oak Cliff Baptist Church where he ministered as lead pastor from 1983, until his retirement in 2004. He continued to minister as an interim pastor throughout the area for many years until caring for mother became a full time job. He and mother made their home church First Baptist Church of Arkoma, Oklahoma and were able to attend there together for several months before the decline of their health.

Our dad James Phillip “Phil” Whitten, 76, passed away from this life in Methodist Health and Rehab on Monday, November 9, 2015 after a fight with Lewy Body Dementia.

He now resides in Heaven with his Heavenly Father and our mother, Merlene and many other relatives who have gone before him, including his mother and father, Jack and Gladys Whitten, his brother Jerry Whitten and many other loved ones.

He is survived by his three faithful children, Sherry Goodrum and her husband John, of Fort Smith, Phyllis Poole and her husband Jimmy of Van Buren, and Phil Whitten Jr. of Fort Smith; and three grandchildren, Breanne, Amelia and Carlee Goodrum all of Fort Smith; his sisters, Loretta Rosser of Long Beach, California and Helen Stith of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, as well as his brothers, Jack Whitten of Enid, Oklahoma and Joe Whitten of Big Spring, Texas.

Family visitation will be Friday, November 13, 2015 from 5-7pm at Edwards Funeral Home Chapel. Funeral Service will be 11:00 AM Saturday, November 14, 2015 at Grand Avenue Baptist Church. Burial will be at Roselawn Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home.

At the family’s request, memorials may be sent to: Arkansas State Baptist Children’s Home, 10 Remington Drive, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204 to Gideon’s International, PO Box 140800, Nashville, Tennessee 37214-0800 or Called To Care, Inc. (a ministry to nursing home patients) PO Box 890298 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73189-0298.

To sign an online guestbook, visit www.edwardsfuneralhome.com.