Catherine Stewart Whitehead

September 3, 2026

Catherine Stewart Whitehead, 77, of Molino, went home to the Lord on August 28, 2026, surrounded by her children and her sister.

Catherine was born and raised in Molino, and she spent her whole life taking care of people. She drove a school bus. She owned and ran a day care. She was a foster mother to at least fifty children, and she never stopped counting them as hers. The taking care started early. Her home was never quiet and never empty, and that was exactly how she wanted it.

She was a generous person and she gave without asking for credit or thanks. That was who she was. If you were hers, she fought for you.

Catherine was preceded in death by her parents, Augusta Stewart and Earnestine Stewart Dykes; her paternal grandparents, Elvis and Eliza Jane Stewart; her maternal grandparents, Frank and Mary Ard; her husband, Jimmy Ray Whitehead; her son-in-law, Donnie Kent; two sisters, Carol Stewart and Sandy Madden; and three brothers, Carl Stewart, Tim Jordan (Donald Ray), and Tom Bunn (Thomas Earl).

She is survived by her children, James Whitehead and his wife Belinda McLamb, and Sandra Whitehead and her husband Robert Richardson; her grandchildren, Catherine Kent and her husband Ethan Masters, and Harrison Kent and his wife Kerry; her brother, Joey (Denise) Jordan; and six sisters, Jerlain (David) Folk of Ehrhardt, South Carolina; Rosie (Glen) Johnson of Georgia; Ann (Tracey) Ford of Cantonment, Florida; and Alice Smith, Betty “Kay” Smith, and Linda (Greg) Bauer, all of Pensacola, Florida. She is also survived by the many foster children she raised, who knew her as Mom.

Catherine will be cremated, and a celebration of her life will be held on October 17, 2026, 10:00 a.m. at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North with Joshua McLamb officiating.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Children’s Home Society in her memory.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under Obituaries