Charles Ray Whitaker

CHARLES RAY WHITAKER FORMER MOUNTAIN HOME POST MASTER DIES AT AGE 88. HE WAS BORN IN JONESBOROUGH, TN, AUGUST 31, 1923. HE SERVED IN THE 1ST INFANTRY DIVISION IN WWII OF THE US ARMY. HE MADE THE INVASION OF FRANCE ON OMAHA BEACH AND SERVED AS STAFF SERGENT DURING WWII. HE RECEIVED NUMEROUS MEDALS INCLUDING 1 SILVER STAR, 3 BRONZE STARS FOR HEROISM; 2 PRESIDENTIAL CITATIONS; 5 BATTLE STARS, FRENCH CITATION, BELGIUM CITATION, AND THE COMBAT INFANTRY BADGE. HE WAS RECALLED IN 1950 AND SERVED AS A MASTER SERGEANT DURING THE KOREAN WAR. MR. WHITAKER RETIRED AS POSTMASTER OF MOUNTAIN HOME, TN AFTER 39 YEARS OF FEDERAL SERVICE. HE ATTENDED ETSU AND WAS A MEMBER OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF JONESBOROUGH. HE WAS ALSO A FORMER MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POSTMASTERS, TENNESSEE LEAGUE OF POSTMASTERS, AMERICAN LEGION, AND THE VFW.HE WAS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY HIS BELOVED WIFE OF 50 YEARS, BERNESE ASHTON WHITAKER IN 1992 AND HIS PARENTS, GEORGE W. WHITAKER AND MARY WINNIE REECE WHITAKER HOPKINS, 3 BROTHERS''WALLACE, PAUL, AND HAROLD WHITAKER, AND 2 SISTERS LOUISE BLAIR AND MARIE YOUNG, AND HIS SON-IN-LAW, BENJY HOWELL.SURVIVORS INCLUDE 2 SONS, TERRY RAY WHITAKER, AND WALLACE 'SKIP'? WHITAKER, AND WIFE JASLEEN, 1 DAUGHTER JANICE HOWELL, 2 GRANDDAUGHTERS, HOLLY HOWELL ROGERS AND MELISSA WHITAKER AND HER HUSBAND BOB, ALL OF JOHNSON CITY; 1 GRANDSON KEVIN HOWELL, AND HIS WIFE MESINA HALL HOWELL OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA; AND 2 GREAT GRANDCHILDREN, KYLAH AND KEATON ROGERS, OF JOHNSon City.Funeral services will be conducted at 7:00 pm Monday, January 9, 2012 from the Morris-Baker South Chapel. Pastor Greg DePriest will officiate. Burial services will be conducted at 11:00 am Tuesday from the Monte Vista Memorial Park. A procession will leave for the cemetery at 10:45 am on Tuesday. Family and friends will serve as pallbearers. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 5:00 until 7:00 pm on Monday.