June Whitlow, former senior associate executive director of national Woman’s Missionary Union, died Feb. 20. She was 86.
Born in Arkansas and raised in Illinois, she was a member of every WMU age-level missions discipleship group in her local church. Her father was a Baptist minister, and her mother actively served in local, associational, and state WMU organizations.
After graduating from Blue Mountain College, Whitlow taught high school in Vandalia, Illinois. During the summers she did field work for Illinois WMU.
She recalled for Facets of a Diamond by Inez Taylor (an early history of Illinois WMU), “I received valuable experience, doing everything from directing GA Camp at Lake Sallateeska to teaching mission study classes….I am very grateful for my home, my mother, my church and Illinois Woman’s Missionary Union—all of which had a significant role in shaping my life and helping me to become what I am today.”
She served with national WMU in Birmingham for 36 years, retiring as senior associate executive director. She is survived by her sister, Nancy Whitlow, of Alton, Illinois.
—IB staff, with The Alabama Baptist