Obituaries

Charles Whitworth

Dr. Charles Walters Whitworth Sr., beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, died unexpectedly at his home in Rome, Ga., on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014. He was 96 years old. Born in Lavonia, Ga., in October 1917, he was the second son of H.M. Whitworth, pharmacist and Lavonia First Baptist Church deacon, and Bessie Walters. Dr. Whitworth had been Dean of Shorter College and professor of philosophy and religion, from 1962 to 1985. He was a member of First Baptist Church, Rome, where he was a deacon and longtime teacher of adult Sunday School classes. His wife, the late Margaret Upshaw Whitworth (daughter of the late U.S. Congressman from Georgia, William David Upshaw), was also a deacon at First Baptist, and taught English at East Rome and Main High Schools. Dr. Whitworth was a past member of the Rome Rotary Club, and of the Three Rivers Singers and the Rome First Baptist choir, with both of which ensembles he performed into his ninety-fifth year. Charles Whitworth was educated in the Greenville, S.C., public schools, and at Furman University, where he studied English and music. As a student, he played the French horn in the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. After his graduation Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in 1938, he took a position as a secondary-school music teacher, first in Anderson, SC, then in Greenwood, SC. It was in Greenwood that he met his future wife, Margaret Upshaw, an English teacher and director of the Glee Club. They were married in Greenwood in May 1942. Shortly afterwards, he was called to military service in the United States Army Air Force. An enlisted man, he first worked in a high-security specialty as a power-operated gun turret and Norden bombsight technician. Then, as a volunteer for the newly-formed Third Army Air Force headquarters band at MacDill Field in Florida, he played the baritone horn for the remainder of his service, during which he rose to the rank of corporal. Following military service, Dr. Whitworth attended Union Theological Seminary in New York, where he studied under such eminent theologians as Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr. He received the MA in Christian Education from Columbia University in 1946, and took a job as YMCA secretary at Mississippi State University. In 1948 he, his wife and their three children moved to Atlanta where he became Southeastern Area secretary for the YMCA, traveling to many college campuses throughout the region. In 1951 the family moved across town to Emory, where Dr. Whitworth enrolled in the Candler School of Theology. In 1954, the couple received their fourth child, and Mr. Whitworth the Bachelor of Divinity degree. He continued his graduate studies in the Institute of Liberal Arts. With a dissertation entitled A Philosophy of Religion in Higher Education, he earned the PhD from Emory in 1961. During the Emory years, he served as pastor of the Baptist church in Godfrey, Georgia. He was licensed to preach in the Baptist churches of Georgia, and often in later years served as interim pastor, in Lindale and in Summerville, Ga., among others. In his last year, at the age of 95+, he officiated at the weddings of two of his grandsons, in New Orleans and Chattanooga. In 1955, having assumed the position of Dean of the Evening College and Special Classes for Adults at the University of Chattanooga, he and his family had moved to Signal Mountain. He also served several years as Minister of Music at First Christian Church, Chattanooga. Then, in 1962, came the move to Rome and Shorter College. Dr. Whitworth combined his professional teaching and administrative responsibilities with a variety of church and community services. In 1982 he and his wife enjoyed a sabbatical semester at Regents Park College, Oxford. Following his retirement from Shorter, he and Mrs. Whitworth went as missionaries to Liberia where they both taught in the Baptist Seminary of Monrovia. His wife of 58 years, Margaret Whitworth ne Upshaw, died in Rome in 2000. His daughters, Margaret Elizabeth Whitworth Romeis and Sara Beverly Whitworth, died respectively in 2003 and 1969. He is survived by his daughter, Sheron Collins Kenaston of Chattanooga, and his sons, Dr. Charles Walters Whitworth Jr., of Montpellier, France, and David Timothy Whitworth, JD, of St. Simons Island, Ga. He leaves ten grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. In addition to his many academic, religious and community involvements, Dr. Whitworth embraced enthusiastically myriad hobbies, from voracious reading to gardening, fishing, and traveling, all of which continued until his death. He exemplified humility, virtue, good humor, and divine grace to all who knew him. A memorial service will be held in First Baptist Church, Rome, on Saturday February 15, at 1 p.m. The family will receive friends in the sanctuary after the service. Flowers will be accepted, or contributions may be made to any of the following: Music Ministry, First Baptist Church or CBF Offering for Global Missions, P.O. Box 1189, Rome, GA 30162-1189; William S. Davies Homeless Shelter, 3 Central Plaza, PMB 198, Rome, GA 30161-3233

Published February 9, 2014

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