Tribute Wall
Wednesday
8
January
Visitation at Funeral Home
10:00 am - 11:00 am
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Pagano Funeral Home
3711 Foulk Rd
Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania, United States
Wednesday
8
January
Funeral Service
11:00 am
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Pagano Funeral Home
3711 Foulk Rd
Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania, United States
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, February 6, 2020
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Ann&Lew
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, February 6, 2020
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Anna May
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
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Mom
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
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Bob Barb Joyce LewJr
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
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Ann&Lew
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
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Ann&Lew
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Monday, January 20, 2020
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Anna
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Saturday, January 18, 2020
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Lew Jr, Mom & Joyce saying goodbye to Jack
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Friday, January 17, 2020
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Mom&Barbara
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Friday, January 17, 2020
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Barbra&Mom
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, January 16, 2020
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Rob&Mom&Joyce ignoring TV
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
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Christmas portrait
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
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Barbara Mom Grandmom & Julie
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
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Mom&Joyce
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Monday, January 13, 2020
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Monday, January 13, 2020
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Sis & siblings on Okleola Ave.
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Lewis Whittington uploaded photo(s)
Monday, January 13, 2020
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Ann & Lew Sr.
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Lewis Whittington posted a condolence
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Eulogy
Anna May Whittington
Sept. 1, 1932 – Dec. 27, 2019
Although she would never think it herself, my mother led an amazing and accomplished life. Here are just a few remembrances, as we memorialize her life on this sad day and remember all that she has given us.
One of the earliest memories I have is of her being very sad when she found out her Grandmother and namesake Anna Gentsch had to leave her home in Wilmington because she was going blind. In the last years of her life, my mother also was dealing with vision loss, but almost up to the end, her memory was as sharp as ever, and she could recall in vivid detail of so many days and of the people in her life, as if it was happening right in front of her..
Mom often talked about traveling alone on the bus to visit her grandmother, whom she recalled with unwavering love in her voice her entire life. And, even though she had days of confusion these past months, almost to the end of her life, that memory of things past was still very much intact.
Mom recounted many stories about her brothers and sisters of times of hardship during the Depression but mostly recalled how her family faced them together. And many hilarious incidents like the time she opened a cellar door and having a hawk fly at her, that her brothers had somehow brought into the house.
She loved the movie musical and one thing that we shared was to talk about the old movie stars. She spoke most often about living on Okleola Ave. in Boothwyn and being part of a large close family and fondly recalled and a neighborhood where everyone looked out for each other.
Countless memories of her mother’s kitchen and learning her recipes and certain that Grandmom would keep one ingredient a secret. But of course, she never said it, but we all knew she was a marvelous cook in her own right. And most poignantly, she told of the support of her family when my father stories was fighting on his tour of duty during the Korean War, while she was pregnant with my sister Barbara.
It so easy to recall her wonderful humor, and generosity of spirit. She always showed sincere interest in what everyone wanted to do and what they were interest in. She was a wonderful, giving mother to her kids.
She was definitely one of the most popular Mom’s in the neighborhood at 142 Ervin Ave. in Linwood and to all Barbara’s, Bob’s, Joyce’s and my friends & most memorable our many cousins.
Mam was an astute observer of character and always tried to consider everyone’s different point of view. She said to me many times “You never know what people are going through.” And even if she kept her own opinion private, she was a critical thinker. Mom was always could talk about politics and politicians, she credited her father for her interest. She might start a discussion with the word ‘I don’t know much’ but of course she knew a lot, even if she wasn’t saying it. She and my father always watched the Sunday news shows to stay informed. Throughout her life she kept up with current events and had the good sense not to get into political arguments.
But mostly, her entire life, as most of you who knew and loved her, the focus of Mom’s heart and mind were always on family. Ann and Lew brought joy to many people and they were a wonderful team, always willing to give and share what they had. Always understanding, always available to anyone in need.
And I’m sure most of you can remember that they were fantastic partners on the dancefloor. They had a quiet chemistry and they had the moves.
Even as they faced their biggest challenge in the course of a year, when my brother Bob was nearly killed in an auto accident and our sister Barbra was stricken at age 25 with life threatening brain tumors. They did everything humanly possible to help them recover. And their compassion and love for them was nothing less than heroic.
In the early 2000s Barbra and my father died a year apart from each other, and then her mother also passed. Her world was shattered, she didn’t really want to go on without them. Her spirit and even perhaps her will to live was gone. She often said she didn’t know what her purpose was anymore. Yet, somehow she persevered.
Mom went through terrible emotional trauma it meant everything to her to have her brothers and sisters rally around her and help in any way they could. Many times she expressed to me that her family in her years in Lewes, Delaware were her lifeline. And I know she meant that on every level.
And on a personal note, and most significant in my life, as a gay son, how lucky I was to have her unwavering support and acceptance. She felt my loss on every level when Jack died in 2004 and I don’t know how I would have gotten through it without her.
Life knocked her around and her heart was broken many times, but even in her aching heart she had room for everybody. She had great pride on certain things, but never on material things. She never forgot where she came from and she remembered what is really important had nothing to do with things.
Just as Mom had a special relationship with her Grandmother, she had a special bond with her granddaughter Julie Taylor Every. They had a special language together, to see them together these last months was a joyous and profoundly beautiful thing.
So she comes home now, because of the extraordinary love and support of Joyce and Steve, who gave everything to care for her many physical challenges in her years living with them in Florida. And for fulfilled her often stated wish to be back in Pennsylvania, and near Dad and Barbra.
Mom faced these last months of her life at Fair Acres Geriatric Center with courage, resilience, and hope. As a woman of faith, she always often said to me on more than one occasion that she wasn’t afraid to die, but the survivor and fighter in Mom, struggled to stay with us to the end. It was heartbreaking to see her suffer, but a beautiful to be able to be with her again in the final months of her life.
We say goodbye today to our Mother, this wonderful woman, know that you will always live in our hearts, minds, and souls. I know many of you have a lifetime of beautiful thoughts and wonderful memories of her. She often sad self-deprecating things about feeling inferior, that she didn’t do enough, but of course all of us here today who were lucky enough to be in her life, we know how extraordinary she truly was.
-Lewis J. Whittington Jr.
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Alice Mann posted a condolence
Friday, January 3, 2020
She was one of favorite resident i will miss her dearly.
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The family of Anna May Whittington uploaded a photo
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
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Pagano Funeral Home
3711 Foulk Road
Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania19060
DE: (302) 792-8485
PA: (610) 485-6200
Moreland-Pagano
3711 Foulk Road
Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania 19060
PA: (610) 494-0505