Whitworth, ‘first lady’ of Poplar Bluff, dies at 93

Evelyn Whitworth, 93, who died Saturday, Nov. 6, is remembered by her friends and community leaders as a woman with a wonderful, upbeat attitude and for being involved in any event in the city where help was needed.

Poplar Bluff attorney L. Joe Scott, a member of the United Gospel Rescue Mission Board, remembers the time they served together on the mission board.

“She was a great member,” Scott said. “She had a wonderful, upbeat attitude at every meeting. She never missed a meeting, and was a wonderful asset to the mission. She gave her time and knowledge about people and most of what she’d say was in a happy or kind way, which was very nice to be around.”

Joey McLane, a local businessman and community leader, called, Whitworth “a classy, classy lady who reminded me of my own mother, which there is no higher compliment. She was a first lady of Poplar Bluff in my mind. She was a tremendous supporter of the mission and the (Poplar Bluff) chamber and it was my privilege to serve with her in different capacities through the years.”

Dr. Tom Lawson, a former Poplar Bluff city manager and a retired educator, recalls Whitworth as a great friend who was involved wherever she was needed.

“Evelyn Whitworth has been just a great friend of ours ever since we returned to Poplar Bluff in 1988,” Lawson said. “She made us feel at home ... Invited us into their home for different events. She made us aware of what was going on in Poplar Bluff, for entertainment and for all the good things anyone would want to know. She was just that kind of a person. I don’t know of anyone that didn’t have great respect for Evelyn Whitworth. Everyone knew her and found her to be very congenial and helpful.”

“Evelyn was always involved in the events in Poplar Bluff that needed help,” Lawson added. “New events, old events that were trying to be revived, like the Rodgers Theatre. She was helpful when the coliseum opened. Everything that we did, she just simply was there to help. While her husband was willing to help, Evelyn was one that we saw more often, socially. Jeane and I feel this community has lost another great friend. We just lost Betty Absheer and now we’ve lost Evelyn Whitworth.”

Carol Mott Morse, a friend of Whitworth’s, volunteered with her as a member of the Junior Citizenship Club, which helped sponsor the Edgewood Children’s Home.

Morse and Whitworth’s friendship started a long time before they were involved in the citizenship club.

“I’m heartsick the city has lost one of its first ladies,” Morse said.

Morse describes Whitworth as “a loyal supporter of the city. Even though she wasn’t a native, she was born in Charleston. She came here when she was very young, and she had strong feelings for the city.”

She was a charter member of the citizenship club when they started in 1949. She was involved for many years with the children’s home before she had children.

Morse said, “she’s always been such a supporter of Poplar Bluff. Talk about a loyal person who thought our city should be first in everything.”

Morse used the words “very genteel” to describe Whitworth.

She was “someone who always put her church, family and her city first. She was loyal to her friends always.”

Morse recalls, Whitworth “grew up at the Daily American Republic because she went to work on a diversified occupation” program at the high school.

“She’s going be greatly missed not only by her family and friends,” Morse said. “She’s been active in every aspect of the community. She never ran for any political office, but she certainly supported political people and not necessarily from one party or the next. She said, ‘I am an independent.’”

Whitworth was pleased her friend Linda Bloodworth Thomason asked her and her husband, Guy, to mentor the Claudia Girls. They chaperoned the Claudia Girls on trips around the world.

Bloodworth Thomason said, “When I was little, she was one of those magical store owners on Main Street who always made you feel special. Much later, she would become the soul and fuel of the Designing Women Foundation. She was there from the very start — that first phone call to the Queen’s four hundred year old architectural firm, Crowther and Syon, in London — who agreed to come to America and spend six months building the library, but claimed to have no idea how to get to the Ozarks or Poplar Bluff. Evelyn was the one who gave them flawless directions. And once they arrived, benevolent but eagle-eyed supervision.

“For the next three decades, she would become one of the most essential components of our DNA,” Bloodworth Thomason said. “With her beloved husband, Guy, she toured the great museums and cultural antiquities of Europe with the Claudia Girls (named for my mother), taking them to countless Broadway Shows, introducing them to the streets of New York and Hollywood sound stages. She mentored literally hundreds of Poplar Bluff’s young women, including dozens of our scholarship recipients, and was a devoted advocate of the Charlie Classics reading program.

“But more than anything, she was our forever housemother, cheerleader and dream believer. She loved us so hard and cared so deeply — her spirit is definitely going to live in our hearts and in the library forever,” Bloodworth Thomason said.

Another team effort of which Whitworth was proud was when she and Guy were named Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce Co-citizens of the year in 1991, the only husband and wife team to be named so.

Memorials may be given to the Margaret Harwell Art Museum, the United Gospel Rescue Mission, the P. B. History Museum, UCAN, the Designing Women Foundation and Holy Cross Episcopal Church.

Visitation will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the First United Methodist Church followed by her service at 4 p.m. David Stewart will officiate.