Mr. Thomas Whitehead

WHITEHEAD, Mr. Thomas - Age 83, passed away peacefully, Saturday, June 29, 2013 at Kith Haven Nursing Home. Family hour 10 a.m. Friday, July 5, 2013 from the Chapel of Lawrence E. Moon Home, 906 W. Flint Park Blvd., with funeral service commencing at 11 a.m. Rev. Robert Jones, officiating. Interment River Rest Cemetery, G-4413 Flushing Rd. Friends and pallbearers will assemble at the funeral home 10 a.m. Friday. Mr. Whitehead will lie in state in the Chapel of Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home, and may be viewed from 12 noon-6 p.m. Thursday. Mr. Thomas E. Whitehead was born on December 18, 1929 in Enfield, North Carolina, to parents Berry and Melissa Whitehead. Thomas was the sixth child of thirteen siblings, which included six brothers and six sisters. He spent his early years working on his parent’s farm and becoming an avid outdoorsman who loved both hunting and fishing in the North Carolina woods and waters. On February 21st, 1958, Thomas married his sweetheart, Meria Cooper. The couple soon moved north to start a family of their own, briefly staying in Berea, OH, before settling in a home in Flint, Michigan in 1963, where they raised five children (Jill, Douglas, Andre, Judy and Toni) and two grandchildren (Veldez and Dominique). In Michigan, Thomas worked for various construction companies as a skilled mason, until he retired in 1977. In addition to his love of the outdoors, Thomas was also a huge boxing, baseball and basketball fan, particularly of the college teams of North Carolina. He also greatly enjoyed gardening, so much so that he and Meria had one of the largest private vegetable gardens in the city of Flint. It was so inspiring, that the Flint Journal once ran a full page article about it, famously nicknaming the couple as “The City Tillers.” However, Thomas’ greatest love was spending time with his friends and family. It was commonplace to pull into his driveway to find him working in the garden, and be greeted by his familiar “There He Comes!” Quick with a smile and a kind word, he would find the time to sit and visit with most anyone, happily discussing everything from the score to last night’s ballgame to what the catfish were biting on down at the lake. Later in life, he loved sitting with his children and grandchildren, captivating them with stories from his youth in North Carolina and beaming with pride while listening to tales from their own lives. Thomas Whitehead: Friend, Neighbor, Brother, Husband, Father, Grandfather. You will be missed dearly and remembered always. Rest in Peace and in God’s graces. He is survived by: his wife, Meria; daughters, Judy (John) Knorr of Ann Arbor, MI and Toni Whitehead of Flint, MI; grandchildren, Veldez and Dominique Whitehead of Flint, MI, Chris Chaney of Ypsilanti, MI, Branden, Grace, and Sean Knorr of Ann Arbor, MI; great-grandchildren, De’Kori Whitehead, Kelsha Hopson, Landon and Sophia Zachary; siblings, George (Mary) Whitehead of Enfield, NC, Novella Ashe, Betty Wright, both of Flint, MI and Lorraine Allen of Washington, D.C; a host of nieces and nephews including special nephew, Hoover Whitehead Jr. of Flint, MI; In-laws, Paul (Diane) Cooper and Clementine (Lewis) Wright of Flint, MI, Novella Ricks, Wilheminia Artis, Joyce Milke, Marvin Cooper and Michael Cooper of North Carolina, Minnie Whitehead and Gilda Whitehead of Virginia; a host of other relatives and friends. Mr. Whitehead was preceded in the afterlife by his daughter, Jill; sons, Douglas and Andre. The Whitehead Family would like to convey their deepest gratitude to the 2nd Floor South Station Staff at Kith Haven Nursing Home for their tender care of Thomas in his final days.

Mr. Thomas Whitehead

December 18, 1929 - June 29, 2013