Margaret Barker Whitaker

Margaret Barker Whitaker, 96, resident of Laurel Circle, died Thursday, August 16, 2012 at Community Care of Rutherford County in Murfreesboro. Graveside services will be conducted Monday at 2:00 p.m. at Polk Memorial Gardens with Wayne Hardison officiating. The family will visit with friends Monday from 12:00 noon until 1:30 p.m. at Oakes & Nichols. The family suggests memorials to American Heart Association, P.O. Box 840692, Dallas, Texas 75284-0692 or American Diabetes Association, Memorial & Honor Program, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria, VA, 22312. Notes of sympathy may be sent to the family at www.oakesandnichols.com. A native of the Burwood Community in Williamson County she was the daughter of the late John W. Barker and Blanche Lavender Barker and attended Williamson County Schools. In 1936 she married Melburn "W.M." Whitaker who preceded her in death on March 10, 1998. Mrs. Whitaker was employed for a short from 1934 - 1935 at Tennessee Knitting Mills but spent most of her life as a loving wife and mother and homemaker. She was a member of Northview Church of Christ. Survivors include her grandson, Mark (Amie) Fitzgerald of Murfreesboro; great-grandchildren, Will Fitzgerald and Courtney Fitzgerald; special niece, Mrs. Joyce (Claude) Crowe of Columbia and several other nieces and nephews; and son-in-law, James Norris Fitzgerald of Tullahoma. In addition to her parents and husband she was preceded in death by her daughter, Gail Whitaker Fitzgerald; sisters, Mrs. Christine Morton, Mrs. Cornelia Norman, Mrs. Georgia Taylor; and brothers, Roy Barker and John Lavender Barker. Active pallbearers include Mark Fitzgerald, John Alden Morton, Claude Crowe, Norris Fitzgerald, Floyd Taylor and James Riley.