"Season's Grievings" for Beatrice

Beatrice Sammons Whitman
 
  During the Nov.-Dec. 2023 season, Ms. Beatrice Whitman, who made professions of Christian faith at ages 5 and 14, visited graves near her Greer, SC, home.

“I was by myself on a Saturday and drove to Hillcrest Memorial Gardens (HMG),” she says.

Beatrice’s husband, Willis L. Whitman, a Hoechst Celanese retiree, died at age 76 on Feb. 26, 2019. His body rests at HMG. Married almost 55 years, they met in Oct. 1964 at Greer Mill, where they worked. (Beatrice attended Bob Jones Univ. for 1.5 years while working at Greer Mill.) They dated 3 months and wed on April 3, 1965. “He was the better half of us,” Beatrice says. Their 3 children are Lamar Whitman, Cindy Burrell, and Katina Henson.

In 2021, Mark Burrell, one of Beatrice’s 5 grandchildren, died after a dirt bike accident. Mark hit her dad’s shop as he raced around Beatrice and her father’s adjoining properties. Her father witnessed the tragedy. A Licensed Practical Nurse who completed training at age 48, Beatrice hurried to the wreck to pray. Mark’s body rests at HMG. 

At HMG are the remains of Sparks Conner and Flora Kilgore Conner, Beatrice’s maternal grandparents, and the remains of her friends Bruce (1914-97) and Josie Foster (1923-2014), former Faith Temple members.

“At the graves, I check on flowers and think about the people,” Beatrice says. “The ground is rough, so I sit in the car, pray, and have a good cry.”

She drove to Mt. View Cemetery, behind the old Greer High School (now Bonds Career Center) where she played basketball in 1961.

“I go down to Mom and Dad’s graves and to my 3 little brother’s graves. I’m an only child. They were stillborn, 2 years apart, after me. They were Rh negative babies,” she says.

Beatrice’s dad, Henry Sammons, served in the Army in the Philippines (WWII). He spent 44 years as a police officer, including time as a DOT officer, inspecting wrecks and trucking businesses. Her mother was Frances Conner Sammons. Her mom’s father and the late Juanita Barnett’s dad (John Conner) were half-brothers. 

Beatrice visited nearby graves of Willis’ mom and dad: Myrtle Louise Britton Whitman (died, 1989) and Leonard L. Whitman (died, 1969). And she visited the grave of Clara Mae Conner Campbell, Ms. Anne Owen’s mom who was a sister to Beatrice’s mother.

“I guess that’s my grieving process,” Beatrice says. “When I leave those places, it’s cleansing. I visit Willis’ grave about once a week. I miss him so much. I don’t cry every time I go. Sometimes I laugh about some of the crazy things we did when we were young. God always took care of us. He is our Good Shepherd.”

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