Carl Thomas Whitton

Carl Thomas Whitton, 86, of 3 Ronsanne Parkway, Asheville, died Friday, December 14, 2007, at Emerald Ridge Rehabilitation and Care Center following a prolonged illness. Mr. Whitton was born in York County, SC, and was a preceded in death by his parents, Willard Brooks and Mamie Gardner Whitton, a sister, Mary Alice Fishburne and a niece, Jayne Fishburne. Carl was a 1940 graduate of Lee H. Edwards High School and graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1950 and George Peabody College in 1951 with a Master’s degree in Psychology. He served with the US Navy during WW II as a specialist in sonar equipment. Mr. Whitton worked as an industrial relations manager at American Enka, 1951 – 1954, and at Glenn L. Martin Co., Baltimore, MD, 1954 – 1957, and at Vulcan Materials Company of Birmingham, Ala in the corporate office, where he rose to the rank of vice-president. Following retirement, Carl taught business courses at Western Carolina University and UNC-Asheville. He served on the Board of Directors of Fishburne International Co., Arden, and was listed in Who’s Who in America. Carl was an active member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of West Asheville as a young man. At the time of his death, he was a member of First Baptist Church, Asheville, where he joined after his retirement and return to Asheville in 1978. Surviving are his wife of 57 years, Evelyn Shook Whitton; one daughter, Beth Carlene Whitton Bell and her husband, James Andrew Bell; three grandchildren, Christy, Laura and T. J., and two sisters, Louise W. Nygren and Dorothy Janette Whitton and several nieces and nephews. Services to celebrate the life of Carl will be at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, December 20, in the Patton Avenue chapel of Groce Funeral Home with the Rev. David Warren officiating. Burial will be at Green Hills Cemetery. His family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the Salvation Army, 204 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC 28801, or to Chin Hills Ministry, c/o Forth Naisang, P.O. Box 295, Fairview, NC 28730-0295.