Gerald L. “Jerry” Wilhite

Graveside memorial services for Gerald L. “Jerry” Wilhite, 65, Carthage, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 24, in Moss Ridge Cemetery in Carthage.Mr. Wilhite died Tuesday, April 29, 2008, in Carthage from heart failure.He was born July 27, 1942, in Carthage, the son of Edward Lee and Evelyn Quivey Wilhite. He graduated from Carthage High School in 1960 and Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa, in 1965.Mr. Wilhite was a head golf professional at Alvamar County Club in Lawrence, Kan., from 1980 to 1985 and served in similar positions at Highland Park Golf Course in Mason City, Iowa, Liberty Hills Country Club in Liberty, Mo.; Carthage Golf Club in Carthage, West View Golf Club in Quincy, Ill.; Mission Hills Country Club in Northbrook, Ill.; and Bobby’s Golf Center in Gurnee, Ill. He was a former president of the Professional Golfers’ Association, Iowa Section, and received the Professional of the Year Award from the Iowa PGA and Iowa Amateur Golf Association. He received the Bill Strasbaugh Employment & Club Relations Award from the Midwest PGA and served as a delegate to the National PGA annual meeting. Mr. Wilhite was an Illinois State putting champion and qualifier to the World Putting Championship and a father/son champion at the Carolinas PGA. He had four career holes-in-one and five course records. He completed a golf marathon consisting of 324 holes in 13 hours. He married Joan Carroll Pietsch on Feb. 5, 1964. They divorced in 1984. He married Rebecca Campbell on Oct. 14, 1989. They also divorced.Survivors include a son, Brad and wife Carrie, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; two daughters, Kim Falcone and husband Joe, La Mesa, Calif., and Cindy Burrows and husband Chris, Lenexa, Kan.; two brothers, Curtis and wife Debbie, Carthage, and Richard and wife Becky, LaHarpe; and nine grandchildren.The family suggests memorials to the Carthage Golf Club, sent in care of Lamporte-St. Clair Funeral Home, 405 Cherry St., Carthage, IL 62321.