CHURCH POINT NEWS
SERVICES IN PINE PRAIRIE FOR ARTHUR B. WHITTINGTON
His many friends in the
Church Point area where he had
frequently visited the home of a
daughter, Mrs. Hazel Daigle,
will regret to learn of the death
of Arthur B. Whittington, 94 of
Pine Prairie.
Mr. Whittington died Wed-
nesday, April 29th, at 7:15 a.m.
in the Care Nursing Home in Oak-
dale after a lengthly illness.
He is survived by four
daughters, Mrs. Aaron O'Neal
and Mabel Broussard, both of Pine Prairie, Mildred Whitman
of San Antonio, Texas, and
Hazel Daigle of Church Point;
seven grandchildren, 23 great
grandchildren, and eight great,
great grandchildren.
Funeral services were held at
10 a.m., Friday May 1, in the
Chapel of Rush Funeral Home
in Pine Prairie with the Rev.
Leslie Prescott, pastor of St.
Peter's Catholic Church in Pine
Prairie. Rev. Abe Conerly,
pastor of the First United
Methodist Church in Crowley,
formerly pastor in Pine Prairie
and Oakdale, officiating during
the graveside services in the
Maxie Cemetery near Crowley
where Mr. Whitington was laid
to rest in the Martin Family plot
by the side of Mrs. Hazel
Daigle's mother.
The services in Pine Prairie
and at the Maxie Cemetery
were widely attended, with
pallbearers including Aaron
O'neal of Thibodeaux, John
Broussard of Pine Prairie,
Michael Lacaze of San Diego,
California, Kevin Pole of Welsh,
Charles Ray Whittington and
Cecil Lacze, both of Opelousas.
At the Chapel services, Mr.
Whittington's grandson, Aaron
o'Neal, speech professor at
Nicholls State College in
Thibodeaux, was the pianist and
vocalist providing a most
comforting prelude of piano
solos including loved hymns,
including "Whisperiing Hope",
"Near To The Heart of God",
and "Savior Like a Sheperd
Lead Us" before the services
then playing and singing
"Beyond the Sunset", and
"Beautiful Isle of Somewhere",
during the funeral. As a
postlude, he played "Old
Rugged Cross", and "Abide
With Me" as the Recessional. At
the graveside, he sang "In The
Garden".
Arthur, or "BB" as he was
called by his family
members, and "Mr. Whit" as he
was known to his friends in Pine
Prairie, was born near Glan-
mora January 11, 1887, and was
the oldsest of eight children and
the last to die. He was the son of
William Washington Whit-
tington and Nancy Deramus. In
early manhood he attended
Hudson Business College north
of Alexandria.
His advanced age was the
main factor in his death. He had
maintained his mental faculties
and good sense of humor until
the endo his life, and he had a
wonderful memory.
Many beautiful floral of-
ferings and memorial gifts to
the nice little Methodist Church
with small membership are all
deeply appreciated, states Mrs.
Daigle, who often attended
services with herv step-father
and never missed on Father's
Day. Rev. Conerly, in the
funeral service, mentioned his
faithfulness to his church when
Rev. Conerly was pastor.
"Regardless of the cur-
cumstances, he was always on
the front pew."
Mrs. Daigle continues:
"B.B." and I always celebrated
our birthdays together with
lemon cake (his favorite) and
all the trimmings-his birthday
was January 11th and mine was
January 13th.
"My mother passed away in
1962. I stood by him as always,
making life comfortable and
helped take care of him until I
had heath problems and
couldn't do as much. He was
always kind and appreciative.
Father Prescott, former
Pastor in Church Point, has
been in Pine Prairie several
years and is dearly loved by
Protestants as well as the
Catholics. He is a good mixer
who does lots for the aged,
needy, etc. and town as a whole.
"He was a good friend of
"B.B.'s". When B.B.'s brother
died, he tried to find the
cemetery at Science Hill to
attend burial services, but it
being off the beaten track, he
got lost. When he told about his
plight, B.B. offered to show
him. They spent an enjoyable
day touring the countryside and
visiting "old timers" with whom
they shared coffee and stories of
days gone by.
"That day sealed a friendship
that was to continue until B.B.'s
death. As a final expression of
his fondness for B.B., Fr.
Prescott said a Mass in his
memory and during the Homily,
reminisced of that special day
in the country when he came to
know a special man".
"One of the nicest highlights
in his life was in November of
1977 when he and Mrs. Pearl
Campbell (now deceased) were
honored by the town of Pine
Prairie as being the oldest
citizens. They led the annual
Christmas parade in a shiny
Model-T Ford driven by a
nephew of Alexandria who
owned the car. The parade
included several beautiful floats
and a large crowd attended.
After the parade through the
town, they were excorted to
special seats on a platform
where a ceremony was held
before the Christmas lights
were turned on. A pine tree in
town beside the highway
remained lit up until after New
Year's along with other
decorations in town.
"Another highlight was when he
and my mother celebrated their
golden wedding anniversary in
March of 1962-She passed away
in December of that same
year."
Reminiscing, Mrs. Daigle
States:
"I was eight years old when
Arthur and my mother married
in 1912 in a home wedding at
Grandma Martin's near Iota.
They lived near Glenmora and I
stayed with my grandmother
who was alone, until I left to
college when she died.
"From Glenmora, they
moved to Ellis where he
operated a General Mer-
chandise Store for several
years. Then they moved to Pine
Prairie where he was merchant
of another store until
retirement."
To Hazel and family mem-
bers and friends who have
experienced such a great loss in
his death, we extend sincerest
sympathy.