Anita Greathouse Whitney

Anita spent her young life in Dayton with sister Eleanor and brother David. She then lived in Clarksburg, West Virginia, with her Aunt Lena where she attended Roosevelt Wilson High School, graduating in 1953.

Education was important to Anita. She studied Education at Trinity University in San Antonio and Southwestern Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. She took a break from her studies to marry and raise a family, but she stayed involved in education as an elementary school substitute teacher and librarian. Anita returned to the classroom as a student and graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Technology in 1986. Her mother and children watched proudly as she walked across the stage and accomplished what she started thirty years earlier.

Anita married Roy Whitney in 1958 and had four children, Karen, Jarel, Laura, and Elizabeth. The young family lived in San Marcos, El Paso, and New Jersey, before settling in Houston in 1969. She was, simply put, an amazing mother. She loved her children deeply, and she adored her grandchildren, Ryan, Mechell, Anita, Josh, and Bruce, as well as being a Grandaunt to Kathy, Tommy, Jane, Mark, and Greg. Nothing made Anita happier than to be surrounded by her family.

Anita worked the tenure of her professional career at Houston Lighting & Power as an administrative clerk. She was an avid sports fan and a lover of big band music. She had the silliest sense of humor and was a light in the lives of those who loved her.

Anita faced adversity with a remarkable determination and a joy for life that is infectious. She lived with cancer for over forty years with unparalleled grace and dignity. She proudly participated in a cancer research for eight years at MD Anderson in Houston.

Anita is preceded in death by her sister Eleanor Greathouse Lewis and brother-in-law Thomas Reese Lewis. She is survived by son Jarel and daughters Karen, Laura, and Elizabeth and her brother David Claude Greathouse and sister-in-law Lois Thorpe Greathouse.

A funeral service will be held at 3:00pm Saturday, April 25, 2015 at Earthman Bellaire Funeral Home, 6700 Ferris Street, Bellaire, Texas. She will be buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to MD Anderson Cancer Center or donate to the Anita Whitney Scholarship for Cancer Research/Care at Clarion University.

Memorial contributions may be given to:

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

P.O. Box 4486

Houston, Texas 77210-4486

Please make the check payable to MD Anderson Cancer Center, and put "In Memory of Anita Whitney" in the memo section. To make a gift by credit card on-line:www.mdanderson.org/gifts, or call 1-800-525-5841.

Or

Clarion University Foundation, Inc.

c/o The Anita Whitney Cancer Research Scholarship

Clarion University

Clarion, PA 16214

Please make the check payable to Clarion University Foundation, Inc., and put "In Memory of Anita Whitney" in the memo section. This scholarship will be available to students who choose to pursue a career in cancer research.