Edith Whitby

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Miss Edith Whitby, 86, of Harrisonville, Missouri was born April 8, 1921 near Harrisonville, Missouri as the second daughter of George and Leah Sliffe Whitby. She departed this life Friday, June 29, 2007 at Crown Care Center.
Miss Whitby and her older sister Mary Helene attended the same rural school their father had attended. Miss Whitby graduated from Harrisonville High School in 1939.
Miss Whitby taught for 47 years in the Missouri public schools. She began her teaching career in 1945-47 at the Belle Plaine rural school in Cass County. She then taught primarily at the high school level at Peculiar (1947-48), Ballard (1948-50) Hermitage (1950-54), Ridgeway (1954-58), Belleview near Mound City (1958-63), Hermitage (1963-69), and Weableau (1969-92). She also taught science classes for Wentworth Junior College from 1991-93. She was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Central Missouri State Teachers College in 1944 and a Master of Science in Education degree in 1955. Her teaching assignments on the secondary level covered a wide range of subjectshealth and physical education, speech and drama, social studies, English, math, chemistry, and biology. She also served as a guidance counselor and psychological examiner. Extra class activities included coaching basketball and softball, directing class plays, class sponsorships, and serving as advisor for the National Honor Society. She was a member of the Missouri State Teachers Association, National Science Teachers Association, Speech Teacher Association of Missouri, Missouri School Counselors Association, Central Missouri District Guidance Association, Delta Kappa Gamma, and the Cass County and Missouri Retired Teachers Associations.
In 1988, Miss Whitby was chosen for the Outstanding Leader Award by the Community Teachers & Missouri State Teachers Association for leadership at the local level, for her encouragement to students, for her certification in twelve areas of education, and for her active participation in the local CTA. She often was referred to as the Missouri teacher holding certification in the most subject areas.
Upon her retirement from high school teaching in 1992, Miss Whitby was honored by resolutions of both the Missouri State Senate and House of Representatives. In 1992, Missouri Commissioner of Education Robert Bartman presented her the Pioneer in Education award at the annual banquet of Missouri School Administrators.
She was selected as the Cass County Retired Educator of the Year for 2001-02. Harrisonville Mayor Kevin Wood proclaimed Edith Whitby Citizen for the Day on September 21, 2002. In 2002, she also was honored by the Delta Kappa Gamma International Honor Society for 25 years of devoted and valuable service.
After her retirement from teaching, she moved from Hickory County, where she had lived for many years, back to Harrisonville and lived with her sister Mary Helene Whitby Wortham, who passed away in 2000.
Miss Whitby was a charter member of the Mary Sibley Chapter of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution. She valued her heritage as an American citizen and regularly presented Chapter programs on the U.S. Constitution and American heritage and history.
Learning, reading, and staying in touch with family and friends, including her many former teaching colleagues and students, were pleasures of her every day. Miss Whitby was a long-time member of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. In Cass County, she attended the Freeman Presbyterian Church, to which her sisters family belonged.
She is survived by her niece Leah Wortham and Leahs husband, Eric Hirschhorn, of Chevy Chase, Maryland and their children Alexander, Elizabeth, and Anne Wortham Hirschhorn, as well as her devoted caregiver and friend Georgia Smith of Freeman.
Funeral services were held Friday. July 6, 2007 at Freeman Presbyterian Church, Freeman, Missouri with burial in the Orient Cemetery, Harrisonville. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Dickey Funeral Home, Harrisonville, Missouri.
The family requests no flowers and contributions may be made to the Edith Whitby Scholarship Fund, established at her retirement and awarded to a graduating Weableau high school senior who can use the assistance going on to college. Checks can be made out to Weableau RIII School DistrictWhitby Scholarship and mailed to the school at 509 N. Center Street, Weableau, Missouri 65774.