COLONEL MARCUS LEON WHITFIELD - OBITUARY

Name:
Colonel Marcus Leon Whitfield

Dates:
Birth date: March 27, 1927
Death date: April 28, 2014

Obituary: 
Born the eldest son of George R Whitfield and Effie Stamper Whitfield in Gadsden, Alabama. He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers; Hulan Whitfield and Ralph Whitfield. He is survived by his wife June Robertson Whitfield of Elkmont, Alabama, sons Marcus (Mark) A Whitfield of Louisville Kentucky, Brian M Whitfield of Huntsville Alabama, daughter Debra (Debi) D Morgan of Cheney Washington and stepson Gary R Thacker of Athens Alabama. He had 6 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

He obtained a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Alabama where he served the Army ROTC as a Cadet Lieutenant Colonel. He completed his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering at University of Illinois. He continued his studies at the Vanderbilt University and North Carolina State University. He completed post-graduate studies at Southeastern Institute of Technology. He was a licensed Professional Engineer holding credentials in Texas and Alabama.

Colonel Whitfield joined the military at a young age and served in the US Army with distinction as an active duty officer, reserve officer, and as a civil service employee for most of his professional career. During his career, Colonel Whitfield served in numerous foreign and domestic military stations including Germany, Okinawa, Eniwetok, Washington DC, among many others. Early in his military career, Colonel Whitfield served in Germany assisting with the post WWII reconstruction and subsequently performed Nuclear Blast Effects research and analysis for the Atomic Bomb testing activities at Eniwetok where he personally witnessed the nuclear test events. Following his departure from active duty military service, Colonel Whitfield served the US Army Strategic Missile Defense Command (USA-SMDC) and its predecessor agencies as a civilian employee. He was known for his advocacy of and technical contributions to the now-common Non-Nuclear Hit-to-Kill missile defense interceptor technology development, and his expertise in missile propulsion. Following his retirement from civil service, he
formed Whitfield Enterprises Incorporated performing engineering consultation for PAC-3 and Patriot missile development and testing activities.

In his personal life, Colonel Whitfield was an avid golfer and a loyal fan of Alabama football and devoted his post-retirement time to restoring vintage sports cars.

Visitation for Colonel Whitfield will be Friday, May 2, 2014 from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. at Limestone Chapel Funeral Home in Athens, AL.

Colonel Whitfield will be buried with his beloved parents at Mountain View Park Cemetery in Marietta Georgia.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Alzheimer’s Association.