June 2, 96, Mount Olive

Lizzie Best Whitman, Mount Olive area resident, passed away Tuesday morning, June 2, 2020, at her home. She was 96.

Mrs. Whitman was a long standing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Mount Olive ward. She also was a devoted member of Woodmen of the World Lodge 508 in Mount Olive, and had volunteered at Mount Olive Senior Citizens Center.

Graveside rites will be held Friday, June 5, at 11 a.m. at Wayne Memorial Park. Adam Wiggins will conduct the service.

Survivors include two daughters, Johnnie Rose W. Boyette and husband, Robert Allen Nelson, of Pink Hill and Dixie W. Epps of Raleigh; a son, Darby Whitman and wife, Wendy, of Wetumpka, Alabama; 7 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren; along with several nieces and nephews who were very special to her.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Junius Blackman Whitman; a son, Junius Blackman Whitman, Jr.; a granddaughter, Miranda Whitman; two sons-in-law, Cecil Lee Boyette and Roy Epps;her parents, James Henry Best and Maggie Harrell Best Spence; sisters, Esther Thompson Turner, Angeline Best, and Eva Wall; and brothers, Hosea Best and Hoover Best.