William “Bill” Whitfield, longtime pastor of Cypress Shores Baptist Church, Mobile, died Dec. 20, 2020. He was 90.
Whitfield served with the U.S. Marine Corps and met his wife, Nell, at a bus stop in Mobile while he was in Pensacola for pilot training. After Whitfield was assigned to North Carolina, Guam and Korea, he and his wife and children returned to his native California and then Alabama in 1965 for him to attend Mobile College (now University of Mobile).
After completing his bachelor’s degree, he studied at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and later earned a doctorate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Whitfield became the first full-time pastor of Cypress Shores Baptist in 1971. He served there 20 years, retired and then became pastor to seniors at Dauphin Way Baptist Church, Mobile. At one point during his ministry, he also served as interim director of missions for Mobile Baptist Association.
After his wife was diagnosed and later died from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease, Whitfield wrote a memoir, “Nell’s Journey: A Caregiver’s Memoir Of Alzheimer’s.”
Whitfield is preceded in death by his wife. He is survived by his son, Billy; daughters, Kim and Carrie; nine grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
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