Bobby was born and raised in Whitton, a small, close-knit community about 10 miles SW of Canton that was settled by his great grandfather. He and his siblings helped work the farm. He began school at the one room school house (Orio) a mile away and then went to Canton ISD where he enjoyed Ag classes and graduated in 1957.
He began working for the highway department and met Dorothy on a blind date set up by his cousin, one of her classmates. They married October 21, 1960 and moved to Dallas where he worked for Murray Cotton Gin and Wiseman Hardware. After the girls were born, they moved to Lancaster, where they lived for 35 years. He opened Whitton Service Co., an appliance repair and heating & air conditioning business.
He began teaching courses for Cedar Valley Community College, which led to a second career (one that did not involve 100+ degree attics), when he was hired to teach inmates at the minimum security correctional facility at Seagoville. He taught basic electricity, major appliance repair, heating and air conditioning, and refrigerant certification classes and started a work crew to maintain the prison’s washers & dryers.
In 2000, he & Dorothy moved back to his home place, where he became active in the community by joining the Whitton VFD, Whitton Community Center, the Wills Point Antique Tractor Club, and the Tarver Cemetery Association.
He enjoyed Maw-maw’s dewberry cobblers, Dorothy’s chess pies, bluegrass music, games of 42 or ‘Moon’, canasta (he taught his daughters the graceful art of losing, because he almost always went out blind), shelling (or ‘unpicking’) peas with his granddaughter, giving suckers to the nurse that had to check his blood thickness (‘so she wouldn’t use a square needle), teasing the waitress (asking if he ‘could take the menu back to Texas’ -when he was in Texas or ordering a ‘pine float’ -water with a toothpick), fundraisers for the Community Center & VFD (he could auction a pie for over $100 and a quilt for $1200), working with honey bees, farming (and giving away lots of produce to friends and neighbors), telling jokes, and drinking coffee (‘only 2 times you drink coffee – when you’re by yourself or with someone’).
His life came full circle, and he spent the last 4 years working at Higginbotham Bros. Hardware where he enjoyed helping the customers.
While he enjoyed many things and loved his family & friends, he loved God with all his heart. He was a member of the church of Christ, where he lead singing and served as an elder for many years.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his only sister, Shirley June Odom, his sister-in-law, Jan Whitton, his youngest brother, Billy Mack Whitton, his great niece, Rennie Holloway, and his niece, Holly Everitt.
He leaves to cherish his memory, his loving wife of 58 years, Dorothy Lightfoot Whitton (Canton), his daughters, Rebecca Whitton (Mansfield), Bettye (and Steve) Locklair (Burleson), grandchildren, Andrew (and Jennifer) Locklair (Bryan) and Faith Locklair (Burleson), brother, Delbert Whitton (Canton), brother-in-law, Buck Odom (Canton), sister-in-law Susie Whitton (Canton), aunts, Betty Porter (Canton) and Tommy McLemore (Colorado), and special longtime “blood-kin”, Freddie & Ann Arie (Bowling Green, KY), numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of friends.
The service honoring his life was held on Tuesday, April 23, at Eubank Funeral Home in Canton. Interment will be in Tarver Cemetery. Visitation will be 6-8 pm Monday at the funeral home.
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