Lola was the youngest and last living of the children of Joseph Lamond Bateman and Catherine Murphy Bateman: Alice, Joseph, Kathleen, Adele, Mabel, Rose, Georgia, James and Lola.

Soon after her birth, the family moved from the Laurel, Maryland farm to Washington, DC. Her dad ran a plumbing business in D.C. She graduated from St. Patrick's academy in Washington. Soon after graduation, she married James Whiteside Sr., of Bamberg, S.C. whom she met in Washington while he was on shore leave in 1943, getting a break from hunting U-boats in the North Atlantic. They were married for 67 years.

James and Lola raised four children: James, John, Joellen and Janelle. She enjoyed the joy of six grandchildren: Blythe (Find A Grave Memorial 116543011), Joshua, Daniel, John, Carolyn and Eric and four great grandchildren. They cris-crossed the united States during James's career in the motion picture business, living in Maryland, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, back to Los Angeles, and retiring to Toccoa, GA.

Lola loved telling jokes, playing cards, going to parties and having a good time. Her favorite response to any question……”I’m fine, everything’s fine”.

Her children remember Lola’s retorts to many of their pleas. When any of them pleaded illness to avoid school, her usual response was “take a bath and brush your teeth and you’ll feel a lot better. When any would ask for something out of the mainstream, her response was “and the people in hell want ice water”. When we stalled to eat our vegetables, she said “Eat your vegetables - they will make hair grow on your chest! You want to see?” Then she would reach for the top button on her blouse. When John did not return home to check in after a few days, he was called “The prodigal son”. Her sons-in-law had names, but in good taste, can’t be repeated here.

Many may recall that Lola almost always called James Sr. “The Old Man”. Believe it or not, it was out of respect. As a World War II naval veteran, James Sr. knew that “The Old Man” was the ship’s commander. Despite Lola’s personality, James Sr., quiet as he was, was the commander of the Whiteside ship.

Lola’s children never saw her smoke or drink a beer. When her children would ask her why not, she always said “I never saw a picture of statue of the Blessed Mother with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other”. Enough said.