Peggy Sue Whittlesey

Peggy Whittlesey passed away peacefully in her sleep on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 in Rockwall, TX where she lived with her Daughter-In-Law, Katherine (Whaley) Spencer.  She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2024. 

Peggy was born on August 14, 1936 in Brookhaven, Mississippi to Barney Smith and Gladys Woodall.  She had one younger sister, Judy Smith Wright.  Peggy attended high school at Thomas Jefferson High School in Port Arthur, TX where she met her first husband, Johnny Whaley.  Johnny was a football player and her high school sweetheart.  They married and had one son together, Ted Wayne Whaley.  The family later moved to Jasper, TX where Peggy worked at the bank and everyone referred to her as “Ted’s mother”.  She was a hard worker, loving mother and folks said the whole town pretty much knew the family.  She loved hosting Ted’s high school friends over at their home for game nights.  Later they divorced and she moved to Tyler, TX.  There, Peggy met the true love of her life, Forrest Ray “Whitt” Whittlesey. Whitt had one daughter, Kristin Whittlesey-Mayo.  Peggy truly loved traveling with Whitt, seeing the country in the RV and attending Whitt’s Marine reunions.  She was a wonderful mother, step-mother, great cook, loved the Lord and truly LOVED her two grandsons, Patrick and Jake Whaley.  She attended Green Acres Baptist Church for many years and she and Whitt taught a singles class there. 

She lost the love of her life in 2013 and later lived with her sister, Judy where they were members of Lake Tyler Baptist Church.  Peggy lost her son in 2019 and her sister in 2025. 

Left to honor her memory are her two grandsons, Patrick Whaley and his wife Marisa, Jake Whaley and his wife Ashleigh, along with their two children Olivia and Grayson, her step-daughter Kristin Whittlesey-Mayo and her husband Dan, along with their twin sons, Connor and Andrew and her daughter-in-law, Katherine (Whaley) Spencer.

There will be a graveside service at noon on Thursday, April 24, 2025 at Memorial Park-Evergreen CMTRS in Jasper, TX where Peggy will be laid to rest, next to Whitt. The cemetery is located off W. Martin Luther King Blvd., west of N. Wheeler St.

The recommended florist is Bobbie’s Bokay Florist at 409-384-5550.

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