Joseph L Whiteside

Joseph Lister Whiteside, 96, retired from Monsanto Company and resident of Mercer Court, died Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at Maury Regional Medical Center. The family will visit with friends Sunday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Oakes & Nichols followed by graveside services at 4:30 p.m. at St. John's Churchyard at Ashwood with Rev. Roger Nicholson officiating. The family suggests memorials to St. John's Churchyard, 311 West 7th Street, Columbia 38401. Notes of sympathy may be sent to www.oakesandnichols.com. Born July 27, 1914 in Oxford, Alabama, he was the son of the late Joseph Lister Whiteside, Sr. and Eloise Orr Whiteside. He earned a degree in chemical engineering from Auburn University in 1936 and immediately began a 38-year career with Monsanto Chemical Company. At the outset of World War II, he was called from the U. S. Army Reserve into the U. S. Army. During the period he served in the European Theatre from 1942 to 1946, he was awarded three Battle Stars, the Bronze Star, and Purple Heart. At the end of his military service he married the former Mary Jane Yeatman of Maury County in August, 1946. She preceded him in death April 14, 2001. During his career with Monsanto Company he managed the Soda Springs, Idaho Phosphorus Production from 1952-1956 and the Columbia plant from 1956-1962. He served as Monsanto's Director of Phosphorus Manufacturing in St. Louis, Missouri from 1962-1974. Active in civic and community affairs in Maury County, he was a member of the Columbia Kiwanis Club and Columbia Rotary Club; served a term on the Board of Trustees of Maury County Hospital and as President of the Maury County Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Whiteside was a long-time member of First Presbyterian Church. Survivors include his children, Dr. Devan Cook and husband, Ezra Vaughn of Boise, Idaho, Martha Whiteside and husband, Ron Zink of Sonoma, California, and John L. Whiteside and wife, Nancy of Columbia, Missouri; four grandchildren; several great-grandchildren; and several nieces. He was preceded in death by a sister, Sara Frances Hodge of Chattanooga.