William Madison Whittington Jr. ’36

Bill, a longtime resident of Greenwood, Miss., died Oct. 9, 2002. He graduated valedictorian of his Taft School class. At Princeton he majored in English, cum laude, and was a member of Charter Club. He received his law degree in 1939 from Yale.

He served four-and-a-half years in the Navy during WWII, including three detached duties in the Pacific theater. The rest of his service was as aide to the judge advocate general. His last rank was that of lieutenant commander.

Bill was a leading member of two churches in turn: the First Baptist Church of Greenwood and the Baptist Church of North Greenwood. He was a senior partner in the Greenwood law firm of Whittington, Brock, Swayze, and Dale. He served a four-year term in the Mississippi legislature. He was a longtime trustee of the French Camp Academy.

Bill was a past president of the Greenwood Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Greenwood Little Theater, whose playhouse bears his name, and the Mississippi Little Theater Assn.

He is survived by his wife, the former Mary Jayne Berrard, whom he married in 1945; daughters Jamie Pastreich and Anna Wong; a son, William III; a sister, Mary W. Davenport; a brother, Aven '39; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

The Class of 1936