Thomasina Whitfield

Published 12:00 am Thursday, June 17, 2010

Thomasina Outland Whitfield, 89, of Cary died on June 15, 2010.
Mrs. Whitfield was born in Northampton County near Rich Square, North Carolina on June 17, 1920; the daughter of Quaker ministers, the late Henry Thomas and Julia Ward Outland.
Following graduation from Rich Square High School in 1937 she attended Park View Training School for Nurses in Rocky Mount, graduating in September 1941. She was licensed as a Registered Nurse in April 1942.
On August 9, 1942 she married Ensign Fred E. Whitfield, USNR in Norfolk, Virginia. During World War II, the two were stationed in San Diego and San Francisco, California and Seattle, Washington. After the war, they moved to Raleigh and lived in “Vetville” during Mr. Whitfield’s studies at North Carolina State College.
In 1950, they moved to Tarboro, then to Asheville where they lived until 1958. After a year in Syracuse, New York, they returned to Raleigh. In 2002, they moved to Glenaire Retirement Community in Cary.
Mrs. Whitfield was a long-time member of Hayes Barton Baptist Church where she served for many years as a Sunday School placement assistant and greeter, on the Kitchen Committee, and on the Decorations Committee where she assisted in decorating the Chrismon tree. Additionally, she helped serve meals in the soup kitchen at the Church of the Good Shepherd in downtown Raleigh.
Mrs. Whitfield was predeceased by her husband of 61 years, Fred E. Whitfield in 2004; and two sisters and eight brothers.
She is survived by son Richard A. Whitfield and his wife Norma of Raleigh; daughter Kathleen A. Whitfield of Wendell, and son Stephen A. Whitfield of Raleigh.
The family will receive friends on Thursday evening June 17, 2010, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 831 Wake Forest Road in Raleigh.
A graveside service will be held for Mrs. Whitfield at 11:00 a.m. on Friday June 18, 2010 at Raleigh Memorial Park on Glenwood Avenue. A celebration of life and 90th birthday party will be held in the Multi-Purpose Room at Glenaire Retirement Community on Thursday, June 24, 2010 from 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Memorials may be made to the Television Ministry or the Church Library at Hayes Barton Baptist Church or the charity of one’s choice.