Marion Harlan Whatley

Marion Harlan Whatley died peacefully at her home in Tallahassee on Wednesday, January 22, 2014. She was 85 years old. “Muffet”, as she was called by her friends and grandchildren, was an artist and an author of a published memoir “Once Upon a Summertime” about her childhood summers at Ponte Vedra Beach in the 1930s.

Muffet delighted in sharing her love of art, drawing and watercolor with her grandchildren, instilling in them her life-long love of the beach at Ponte Vedra.

Muffet was born in Jacksonville, graduating from Bartram School where she was president of student government. Graduating a year early, she attended The Baldwin School, Bryn Mawr, PA. before entering Goucher College in Baltimore, MD. She was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority and served as president her senior year. Upon graduation from college she moved to Georgetown and went to work for the State Department in Washington, DC. Later, upon returning to Jacksonville, she established an advertising art business.

She is survived by her children: Marnie (Ed) George, Tallahassee; Sarah Law, Tallahassee; Whatley (Polly) Law, Jacksonville; George Law III, Jacksonville and her grandchildren: Emily Jones, Columbus GA; Will and Tyler Law, Jacksonville; Harlan and Emerson George, Tallahassee; and Mike George, Apopka.

She was preceded in death by her parents Brown and Marion Whatley and her brother Brown L. Whatley, Jr. Her father was an original founder and president of Stockton Whatley Davin & Company that developed Ponte Vedra and the San Marco neighborhood of Jacksonville where Muffet lived the majority of her life.

In 2005 Muffet moved to Tallahassee and was a member of St. Johns Episcopal Church, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America and the Junior League of Tallahassee.

The family would like to thank her many wonderful caregivers particularly, Annie Curry and Muriel Sweet. A memorial service will be held in Jacksonville this spring.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations in her name be made to St. Johns Episcopal Church - Children’s Ministry, 211 North Monroe Street, Tallahassee FL 32301 or the San Marco Preservation Society, 1468 Hendricks Avenue Jacksonville, FL 32207.

Arrangements under the direction of Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Home, Tallahassee, FL.