Pauline Whitaker's Obituary
Pauline Whitaker, 93, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, matriarch of the Whitaker family, went to be with her Lord and Savior, peacefully in her sleep, Saturday, March 25, 2023. She was born May 24th,1929 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Sherman and Lulu Selvedge, and was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Charles Donald Whitaker, and granddaughter, Andrea Whitaker.
Pauline and her family moved from Abilene, TX to Northwest Arkansas in the early 1960s. Don ran the first Walmart store in Rogers, and Pauline was the cashier who completed the store’s first sales transaction. The success of Don and Pauline’s teamwork in the early days of Walmart allowed Pauline the freedom to focus on her community. Later in life, Pauline founded the Whitaker Family Foundation. Her philanthropic efforts were and will continue to be centered around her beloved Northwest Arkansas community and its children’s welfare.
Pauline is survived by her two sons Don and his wife Ginger of Decatur, and Larry and his wife Linda of Rogers. She was known as “Grandma Charlie” to her granddaughters, Amy Whitaker of Fayetteville, Kathy Bennett and husband Rocky of Decatur, and Emily Ortega and husband Buck of Springdale. She was blessed to be known as “Great Grandma Charlie” to Mason, Christian and Julianne Merryman; Leighton, Bear, Vivianne, Remington, Posey, and Bo Ortega; Kylie Stoufflet, and Hunter Bennett. Pauline was even more blessed to become a “Great Great Grandma Charlie” to Kashton Stoufflet.
Visitation will be Thursday, April 6th, 2023, from 5pm until 7pm at Nelson-Berna Funeral Home at 100 South 28th St. Rogers, Arkansas 72758.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Arkansas Children’s Hospital Northwest https://support.archildrens.org/give/280202/#!/donation/checkout 4093 West Sunset Avenue, suite 102 Springdale, Arkansas 72762 or to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105 https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html?sc_icid=header-btn-donate-now
Pallbearers will be Mason and Christian Merryman, and Leighton, Bear, Kylie Stoufflet, and Hunter Bennett
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