Earl Whitson, 88, of Pampa, passed away on June 15, 2023 in Amarillo.
Services will be 10:00 AM, Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at Central Baptist Church with Rev. Norman Rushing, pastor, officiating. A burial will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery under the direction of Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Directors and Crematory.
Earl was available for viewing from 1:00 PM-8:00 PM on Sunday, and 8:00 AM-8:00 PM on Monday. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 6:00 PM-7:00 PM on Monday.
Earl was born on April 2, 1935 in Dodson to Floyd and Vera Whitson. He grew up and graduated from school there in Dodson. After high school, he entered the workforce for a couple of years before he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served honorably in the Second Missile Battalion. After being discharged, Earl worked in the beef industry as a butcher for several years.
Earl would meet his first wife, Eloyse Whitten, and they married in 1960 and they would have three children from this union. They moved to Pampa in 1961 to raise their family. Eloyse would precede him in death in 1985. Earl would find love again when he married Betty Vandiver in 1986, and they blended their two loving families. He later left the beef industry when he went to work for Cabot, a career that lasted for 30 years before his retirement.
Earl found enjoyment taking immaculate care of his cars and his yard. He was a good-natured man who did have an ornery streak and he liked to playfully tease his loved ones. He will be remembered as a gentle & quiet man who had a smile that could light up the room. Earl will be greatly missed by his family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife; a son, Charles Paxton; three brothers-in-law, Max Caswell, Fred Orr, and Wayne Stribling; and by a great-granddaughter, Kenzie Horton.
Earl is survived by his wife, Betty Whitson of the home; three daughters, Cindy Jones and husband Tom of Amarillo, Michelle Cochran and husband Matt of Reydon, Oklahoma, and April Perkins and husband Ralph of Lorton, Virginia; two sons, David Whitson and wife Geraldine of Pampa, and Wade Vandiver and wife Lorye of Braintree, Massachusetts; 11 grandchildren, Kristi Horton and husband Scott, Aaron Paxton and wife Katie, Logan Jones, Lyndi Barton and husband Kadin, Dakota Cochran and wife Lexi, Kayla Odell and husband Danton, Tyler Whitson, Madison Jones, Trevor Cochran, Kellen Perkins, and Amanda Bowers; and 12 great-grandchildren; three sisters, Evelyn Caswell of Hollis, Oklahoma, Shirley Downs and husband Bob, and Carol Stribling-Chatham and husband Johnny of Pampa; and other extended family.
Memorials can be made to Central Baptist Church 513 E Francis Ave., Pampa, TX 79065.
Please sign the online registry at www.carmichael-whatley.com
