Hope “Jackie” Murphy Whittaker, 84, of Ayrfield, Kinsale, VA passed away peacefully on 20
August 2019. She was born 20 January 1935, the only child of Frank Marvin Murphy of Ayrfield
and Hope Alice Dadmun of Petersburg. She lived a long and varied life, raising her children,
managing the farm where her family has lived since 1769, working on the Virginia Tech
Extension Farm in Mount Holly, and spending 18 years as a customer service representative at
Dominion Power before retiring in 1997. She was a Red Cross water safety instructor in her
youth, and was an avid hunter and fisherman, dragging others in with her enthusiasm. She was
a crack rifle shot, and was known as recently as a couple of years ago to persist her very
successful vendetta against groundhogs. She was as active in the Boy Scouts as her son was,
serving on the District Committee and surviving many district Camporees and training events.
She graduated from St. Margaret’s School in Tappahannock and then went to Westhampton
College in Richmond for a year before attending and graduating from Women’s College of
Greensboro.
She was predeceased by her husband of 35 years, Arthur Davis Whittaker. She is survived by
a son, A. Davis Whittaker, Jr (Lynn); a daughter, Sarah Leigh Whittaker Montuori (David) and a
grandson, Anthony Francis Arthur Montuori, a step-daughter, Anne Marie Whittaker, and a lot of
extended family and dear friends in the Northern Neck she loved so much.
Graveside funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, August 23, 2019 at Hickory Hill Cemetery, 825 Beale’s Mill Road, Hague, VA.
In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to the Kinsale Foundation, P.O. Box 307, Kinsale,
Va. 22488.