Obituary for Doris Whitley
Life Remembered
for My Grandmother Doris A. Whitley
Doris Anniebelle Downing Whitley was born March 30, 1929 to the Parents, Father Louis C. Downing and Mother Ruth Marie Richard Downing in Norfolk County, Virginia which is now known as Chesapeake, Virginia.
She was the wife of the late Lucius Lee Whitley (Army Soldier) who fought in the forgotten War (Korean) and to this union 2 sons were born.
Lionel Vandell Whitley October 18, 1951 in Chesapeake, Virginia and Stephen Isaiah Whitley
December 4, 1960 in New York City.
She loved living life and all of the joys of experience that it had to offer.
Thoughtful and kind to all people she had met, she would quickly tell you how she felt and was still nurturing at the same time to her Family and Friends.
As a child Doris loved playing around with her cousins Percy and Edna.
As a child she attended Rehoboth AME Church in Chesapeake, Virginia.
In her early twenties, she was a Seamstress and used her skills to move to New York City.
Organized and detailed, my Grandmother Doris always used her skills to solve a problem and create a solution for that issue at hand. In the 1980’s She landed a job working for the Internal Revenue Service in the Administrative Department in New York City just one block away from the famous
World Trade Center which is now known as the Freedom Tower and during that time until she retired, she would buy the Daily News Paper on Wednesday which had the Crossword Puzzle on page 25.
I would see this and asked ask her, “Grandma What Are You Doing? And she would reply I’m working on a Crossword Puzzle. Would you like to see it Tamal? And I would say yes.”
She told me how it works. She would go and say to me “See if you look on the left side of the page, that’s where the clues are and she would ask me “another word for a male horse” And I would say, I don’t know, and she would say a Stallion 9 letters across, then she would say to herself what clue do I need to find in order to connect the S in Stallion going down and so forth.
It was always a joy to see her do that. I watched her complete the whole Crossword Puzzle with satisfaction on her face.
As she completed the Crossword Puzzle I noticed that there were small print at the bottom of the page and I would ask her, “Grandma why are there black words at the bottom of the page and she would reply, those are the answers to the crossword puzzle across and down, but I don’t look at it because I want to solve the crossword puzzle myself understand Tamal? And I would say yes.” The lesson I took from it was that was you get more satisfaction of working hard to solve the problem rather than using a short cut to finish the task at hand.
Point of Contact.
What is Family?
By definition, a social group consisting of parents and their offspring, the principal function of which provision for its members. It can also entail all the persons living together in one household.
Everyone that met my grandmother at the house broke bread and sat down to speak to her and show respect at her house whether it was my mother Soraida Figueroa, Dante’s mother Sonya Powell and my youngest brother Lance’s mother Adrienne Blakely, Friends of my father Terrence and Ahalia Smith, My uncles friends, my friends and my girlfriend who is now my wife Malissa Robinson.
This mattered to my Grandmother because by meeting each person she was able to feel a sense of security for her family around their friends. It also showed her that we were all comfortable in bringing our friends in the house to meet my Grandmother and my father and uncles mother.
As my Grandmother Doris said to me years ago. She said “Tamal when you are courting a young lady make sure that she introduces you to her family, because if not, the relationship will not work. What it shows to the family is that you are proud of the person you have brought into the household to meet your parents, Grandparents, Family. That connection is truly important to have when you have your own children.”
Family that my Grandmother grew up with.
Uncle Ray Raymond Richard, Julia A. Wright , Aunt Essie Mae Williams , Dollbaby 1st cousins Julia Wright, Edna W. Dailey.
My Grandmother leaves to mourn her loss, from their (deceased) Father Lionel Vandell Whitley
Her 3 Grandsons, Mr. Lionel Tamal Whitley, Dante Raul Powell and Lance Vaughn Whitley and her great grand kids from Dante and Lance.
Her 2nd Cousins Victoria Porter (Chesapeake, Virginia,) Verna Bowden (Pooler, Georgia)
Jasper Walton (Chesapeake, Virginia), Phylliss Butts (Chesapeake, Virginia)
Mrs. Yvonne Arlette Elmore (Marietta, Georgia) Vanessa Porter (Fort Worth Texas) And a host of great great cousins.
Step Daughter Cassandra Whitley-Fletcher with her son Jodi Eric Whitley and his children with Family in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and around the United States.
When I visited my Grandmother at the nursing home and then it changed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic Shutdown with Restrictions of visitors for the elderly, I was able to talk and see her through Social Media Platforms such as Skype in 2020 till the day. I Lionel Tamal Whitley would say to her:
“Grandma, You are a beautiful ray of sunshine that makes me smile. I Love You and I will talk to you soon!”
My love for you is unwaivering.
I Thank You for raising me to be the Young Man that I am today.
In Families there are Timeline Keepers, albeit through immediate or distant.
Life is precious! What we do in life matters.
Through our forged bond as Family and friends.
The people that we meet through life's journey are remembered by their character from which are acknowledged through their actions and deeds of kindness with generosity and thoughtfulness.
Ask yourself, how do you want to be remembered by your Family, Friends and people?
And till the day, how do we continue to stay in contact with each other via in person, a written letter, greeting card, a phone call, cellphone text or by online video chat platform.
I would like to thank my Cousin Yvonne for speaking to Cousin Jasper in Chesapeake, Virginia for texting her this beautiful black and white photo of my Grandmother Doris Whitley and giving me the history of the Downing and Richard Family Tree.
I invite all who would like to contribute through words of fond memories to this online Tribute for my Grandmother Doris Whitley.
Thank You.
for My Grandmother Doris A. Whitley
Doris Anniebelle Downing Whitley was born March 30, 1929 to the Parents, Father Louis C. Downing and Mother Ruth Marie Richard Downing in Norfolk County, Virginia which is now known as Chesapeake, Virginia.
She was the wife of the late Lucius Lee Whitley (Army Soldier) who fought in the forgotten War (Korean) and to this union 2 sons were born.
Lionel Vandell Whitley October 18, 1951 in Chesapeake, Virginia and Stephen Isaiah Whitley
December 4, 1960 in New York City.
She loved living life and all of the joys of experience that it had to offer.
Thoughtful and kind to all people she had met, she would quickly tell you how she felt and was still nurturing at the same time to her Family and Friends.
As a child Doris loved playing around with her cousins Percy and Edna.
As a child she attended Rehoboth AME Church in Chesapeake, Virginia.
In her early twenties, she was a Seamstress and used her skills to move to New York City.
Organized and detailed, my Grandmother Doris always used her skills to solve a problem and create a solution for that issue at hand. In the 1980’s She landed a job working for the Internal Revenue Service in the Administrative Department in New York City just one block away from the famous
World Trade Center which is now known as the Freedom Tower and during that time until she retired, she would buy the Daily News Paper on Wednesday which had the Crossword Puzzle on page 25.
I would see this and asked ask her, “Grandma What Are You Doing? And she would reply I’m working on a Crossword Puzzle. Would you like to see it Tamal? And I would say yes.”
She told me how it works. She would go and say to me “See if you look on the left side of the page, that’s where the clues are and she would ask me “another word for a male horse” And I would say, I don’t know, and she would say a Stallion 9 letters across, then she would say to herself what clue do I need to find in order to connect the S in Stallion going down and so forth.
It was always a joy to see her do that. I watched her complete the whole Crossword Puzzle with satisfaction on her face.
As she completed the Crossword Puzzle I noticed that there were small print at the bottom of the page and I would ask her, “Grandma why are there black words at the bottom of the page and she would reply, those are the answers to the crossword puzzle across and down, but I don’t look at it because I want to solve the crossword puzzle myself understand Tamal? And I would say yes.” The lesson I took from it was that was you get more satisfaction of working hard to solve the problem rather than using a short cut to finish the task at hand.
Point of Contact.
What is Family?
By definition, a social group consisting of parents and their offspring, the principal function of which provision for its members. It can also entail all the persons living together in one household.
Everyone that met my grandmother at the house broke bread and sat down to speak to her and show respect at her house whether it was my mother Soraida Figueroa, Dante’s mother Sonya Powell and my youngest brother Lance’s mother Adrienne Blakely, Friends of my father Terrence and Ahalia Smith, My uncles friends, my friends and my girlfriend who is now my wife Malissa Robinson.
This mattered to my Grandmother because by meeting each person she was able to feel a sense of security for her family around their friends. It also showed her that we were all comfortable in bringing our friends in the house to meet my Grandmother and my father and uncles mother.
As my Grandmother Doris said to me years ago. She said “Tamal when you are courting a young lady make sure that she introduces you to her family, because if not, the relationship will not work. What it shows to the family is that you are proud of the person you have brought into the household to meet your parents, Grandparents, Family. That connection is truly important to have when you have your own children.”
Family that my Grandmother grew up with.
Uncle Ray Raymond Richard, Julia A. Wright , Aunt Essie Mae Williams , Dollbaby 1st cousins Julia Wright, Edna W. Dailey.
My Grandmother leaves to mourn her loss, from their (deceased) Father Lionel Vandell Whitley
Her 3 Grandsons, Mr. Lionel Tamal Whitley, Dante Raul Powell and Lance Vaughn Whitley and her great grand kids from Dante and Lance.
Her 2nd Cousins Victoria Porter (Chesapeake, Virginia,) Verna Bowden (Pooler, Georgia)
Jasper Walton (Chesapeake, Virginia), Phylliss Butts (Chesapeake, Virginia)
Mrs. Yvonne Arlette Elmore (Marietta, Georgia) Vanessa Porter (Fort Worth Texas) And a host of great great cousins.
Step Daughter Cassandra Whitley-Fletcher with her son Jodi Eric Whitley and his children with Family in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and around the United States.
When I visited my Grandmother at the nursing home and then it changed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic Shutdown with Restrictions of visitors for the elderly, I was able to talk and see her through Social Media Platforms such as Skype in 2020 till the day. I Lionel Tamal Whitley would say to her:
“Grandma, You are a beautiful ray of sunshine that makes me smile. I Love You and I will talk to you soon!”
My love for you is unwaivering.
I Thank You for raising me to be the Young Man that I am today.
In Families there are Timeline Keepers, albeit through immediate or distant.
Life is precious! What we do in life matters.
Through our forged bond as Family and friends.
The people that we meet through life's journey are remembered by their character from which are acknowledged through their actions and deeds of kindness with generosity and thoughtfulness.
Ask yourself, how do you want to be remembered by your Family, Friends and people?
And till the day, how do we continue to stay in contact with each other via in person, a written letter, greeting card, a phone call, cellphone text or by online video chat platform.
I would like to thank my Cousin Yvonne for speaking to Cousin Jasper in Chesapeake, Virginia for texting her this beautiful black and white photo of my Grandmother Doris Whitley and giving me the history of the Downing and Richard Family Tree.
I invite all who would like to contribute through words of fond memories to this online Tribute for my Grandmother Doris Whitley.
Thank You.