Amelia "Tot" Whitworth

Mrs. Amelia “Tot” Mattei Whitworth, age 99½, a resident of Destin, Florida, passed away Sunday, July 25, 2021 at Brookdale Senior Living in Destin. Her funeral at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home will be on Monday, August 2 at 1:00 preceded by visitation beginning at 11:00 and burial at Polk Memorial Gardens to follow. Condolences may be sent online to www.oakesandnichols.com. Amelia Ottavia Mattei was born on November 23, 1921 – the daughter of immigrants Giovacchino Mattei from Italy and Amelia Metzner Mattei from Germany. Their home in Nashville was located directly across the street from Centennial Park where she spent many childhood hours on the swings, monkey bars, tennis and croquet courts. While attending Cathedral of the Incarnation High School, Tot was on the first female cheerleader squad for the all-male Father Ryan High School. She continued her education at Ward-Belmont College. On February 22, 1947 she married Raymond Reynolds Whitworth, Jr. They moved from Nashville to Columbia where they made their home with their two lovely daughters. The Whitworth’s were members of St. Catherine Catholic Church where Tot was in the Choir, a member of the Altar Guild, and an organizer of the annual Spaghetti Supers at St. Catherine School. Tot worked in Medical Records at Maury Regional Hospital and later became Director of Volunteers there for many years. Ray and Tot shared a love of gardening and were members of the American Rose Society. Ray preceded her in death on April 13, 1986. He’s been waiting for her a long time. After retiring from Maury Regional Medical Center, Tot fulfilled her dream of visiting Africa. She and her daughter Suzanne enjoyed several more trips including Thailand, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. When she wasn’t away on trips, Tot volunteered at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville where she was awarded achievement pins for 15 years and 4000 hours of service. In 2004 Amelia (she began to use her “Sunday name”) moved to Destin to live near her daughters Suzanne Whitworth Black and Nancy Whitworth Miller. For the last 17 years they have spent all their holidays and birthdays and fun times together. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Walk to End Alzheimer’s: http://act.alz.org/goto/NancyMiller or to donate by check, please send to Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, 322 8th Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Checks should be made payable to Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.