Melvin Whitley

Melvin Whitley, 86, passed away on Thursday, March 10, 2011, at Stanly Manor, Albemarle, NC. A graveside service will be held Sunday, March 13, 2011, at 2 PM at Love’s Grove Methodist Church Cemetery. Rev. Jim White will officiate. Mr. Whitley was born near Stanfield on June 28, 1924, to the late Silas Whitley and the late Nancy Ella Morgan Whitley, but he lived most of his life in Concord and Southern Pines. He was married to the late Connie Marie Yow Whitley and then to the late Dorothy Duncan Whitley. In addition to his parents and spouses, he was preceded in death by brothers Lonnie Whitley, Roy Whitley, Claude Whitley, and Eugene Whitley; and by sisters, Ina Whitley Little and Eunice Whitley Motley. He attended Long School and Concord High School, and worked at Ritchie Auto Parts, Southern Motor Parts, and Sherwin-Williams. In retirement, he pursued his interests in music-making, antiques, bird watching, and reading. He loved tinkering with cars and farm equipment, playing music with friends, doing yard work, and restoring old clocks. He was proud to be known as the Bluebird Man for his knowledge of and interest in birds. Surviving are his daughter, Connie Ruth Whitley Cagle and husband, William Cagle, of Calabash; son, M. Stanley Whitley and wife, Mary Jo, of Winston-Salem; and grandchildren, Leslie Bowers of Charlotte, Steven Whitley of Chicago, and Philip Whitley, with wife, Kendall, of College Park, Md.