Margaret Joyce Whitaker
1932- 2022
Dallas – Margaret Joyce Whitaker, 89, 246 Summery Barker Dr., died February 16, 2022, at home. She was a native of Gastonia, daughter of the late John Hallman Gilreath and Thelma May Gilreath.
Margaret Joyce Whitaker peacefully took her last breath and entered the Kingdom of Heaven while surrounded by her family on Wednesday night. She loved her family fiercely and spent the entirety of her 89 years serving them as she reflected the beauty of the finished work of Jesus on Calvary. Bestowing grace upon grace the last week of her life, she gave each of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren the immeasurable gift of knowing us until the end charging each child to love God and to do good. Her absence will be significant but pales in comparison to the joy we share in knowing she lives eternally with Christ our Lord. Mrs. Whitaker was a member of First Free Will Baptist Church for 73 years spending much of that time serving in one of her most beloved roles as a Sunday School Teacher and was retired from Firestone with 43 years of service.
Survivors: daughters, Diane Whitaker Hooks and husband James, Beth Whitaker Anderson and husband Joe, and Teresa Whitaker Hyde and husband Mark; son John Floyd Whitaker and wife Amy; sisters, Mary Helen Carpenter and Lynne Gilreath Mathis; 14 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, February 22nd at First Free Will Baptist Church, 2316 Union Road, Gastonia, NC 28054.
A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 23rd at First Free Will Baptist Church, 2316 Union Road, Gastonia with Reverend John F. Whitaker, Reverend Darin Gibbs, Reverend W.H. Calvert officiating. Interment will follow at Gaston Memorial Park.
Withers and Whisenant Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 2916 Union Road, Gastonia (704) 864-5144 is serving the Family.