Mrs. Dixie Virginia Whitener , age 93, of Dalton, Georgia departed this life on Wednesday August 21, 2013 at the Ridgewood Manor. Dixie was born August 18, 1920 in Atlanta, GA, a daughter of the late Alvin and Beulah McLeod Tarvin. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Lloyd "Buck" Whitener, five brothers and sisters. She graduated from Valley Point High School. Running the family business of Whitener Chenille Company making bedspreads while Buck served in WWII and then helped run it until it became Whitener Carpet. Always a gardener, having a vegetable garden all her life until she was no longer able and always had a beautiful yard filled with flowers. She was a fantastic down-home type cook, and people always bragged on her cornbread. She was a superior cake baker and at Christmas she would make cakes to give to people so you could always count on her for a cake. She made most of her own clothes starting when she was a teenager, becoming an excellent seamstress and continued to sew for herself and her daughters. She made her daughters' wedding dresses and all the bridesmaids' dresses. She became an accomplished artist after her children grew up and left home. She took lessons at Dalton Junior College in the beginning and continued painting for many years, giving many beautiful oil and acrylic paintings to her family and friends.

She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Sandra and Terry Teets of Ooltewah, TN, Rita and Stan Ensley of Fayetteville, GA; son and daughter-in-law, Ricky and Darlene Whitener of Dalton, GA; sister, Shirley Wilson of DeLand, FL; grandchildren, Phillip and Audrey Carmical of Austin, TX, Sonya Carmical and Scott Smith of Woodbridge, VA, Kim Gaddy and Todd Thornton of Fayetteville, GA, Erin Whitener and Angelo Spinetta of Kennesaw, GA, Kevin Whitener of Dalton, GA; great grandchildren, Dashiell Carmical, Margaret Carmical.

Graveside services to celebrate the life of Mrs. Dixie Virginia Whitener will be held Saturday August 24, 2013 at 12:00 noon from the Whitfield Memorial Gardens with her grandson Phillip Carmical officiating. The family will receive friends at the Ponders Melrose Chapel from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Arrangements are by Ponders Funeral Home, 138 Melrose Drive, Dalton, Georgia, 706 226 4002