Murfreesboro – Olive Ferguson Whitley, 88, formerly of Como, and most recently of Nansemond Pointe Health Care Center in Suffolk, died March 2, 2008. She was born in Southampton County, a daughter of the late Samuel Carlton and Mary Miles Ferguson, and was a 1936 graduate of Newsoms High School. She was predeceased by her husband, George Elmore Whitley and her brother, Carlton Edison Ferguson. Olive worked for many years with area educators and parents as a manager with the World Book Encyclopedia Company. During her nearly forty years of living in Murfreesboro, she volunteered most Sunday mornings to work with Ms. Grave Parker in the Murfreesboro Baptist Church Sunday School Primary Department.
Survivors include two sons, George Elmore Whitley, Jr., and wife Inge, of Como, and their son, Brian K. Whitley and his wife, Jill, of Baltimore, Md., and Vernon Samuel Whitley and wife, Beate, and their son, Robert R. Whitley, currently of Killeen, Texas; a sister, Victoria F. Story of Carrsville, Va., and many extended family members.
A graveside service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday at Buckhorn Baptist Church Cemetery with the Rev. Tom Caulkins officiating. In lieu of flowers, donations in Olive's name may be made to Sunbeam Baptist Church, 31226 Sunbeam Rd., Franklin, VA 23851 or Murfreesboro Baptist Church, 200 W. Main St., Murfreesboro, NC, 27855. Wright Funeral Home, Franklin, Va., is assisting the family. www.wrightfuneralhome.org.