Hatcher & Saddler Funeral Home

Doug Whitlow

Luther Douglas Whitlow, 93, Glasgow, was born December 5, 1928 to Luther Dewey & Elizabeth Turner Whitlow in Detroit, Michigan.   Doug grew up in Detroit but enjoyed spending the summers in Glasgow with grandparents, aunts, uncles, & cousins.   He graduated from high school in December of 1947 & enlisted in the army in 1948.    He served in the Signal Core Unit in Korea during the Korean War until 1952.  

In spring of 1952 he was discharged from the army & met the love of his life Helen Thomas; they were married later that year in October.     They began their married life as partners with his parents in Whitlow & Son Grocery located at the corner of Columbia Avenue & New Salem Road in Glasgow.   They later moved to Louisville where he drove a gasoline truck.   Even though Doug loved trucking he realized it was not a good job for a family man.    As he began his “family man career search”, his military training in the Signal Core led him to Tennessee Valley Authority where he was hired one month before the birth of their first child.    During those early years with TVA Doug & Helen enjoyed living in Pigeon Forge, TN while he worked & trained at Norris Dam.    Throughout their married life they lovingly spoke of their home, church, & friends in Pigeon Forge.    In 1961 Doug was transferred to the sub-station in Summer Shade, KY.    They were thrilled to be moving back home to Glasgow where they lived the remainder of their lives.   The last ten years of Doug’s career with TVA he worked in Nashville, TN as a dispatcher in power production.    He chose to commute to Nashville so they would not have to leave their beloved Glasgow.   

Doug was a faithful member of the First United Methodist Church & Fellowship Sunday School Class since 1961.    During his retirement Doug enjoyed being a Church Van driver every Wednesday afternoon transporting children from school to church for choir practice, also monthly for the Golden-Aires outings.   Doug served faithfully on the Grief Ministry making sure that tables & chairs for the bereavement meals were properly placed and removed afterward. Also during retirement Doug enjoyed being a volunteer tax preparer for the AARP.  

Doug was preceded in death by his parents Dewey & Elizabeth Whitlow, one brother Donald Page Whitlow, his wife of 66 years Helen Thomas Whitlow, & his son Thomas Douglas Whitlow.  

Doug is survived by one daughter Diane Elaine Whitlow Houk(Gary) of Glasgow, one grandson Brian Thomas Whitlow (Ellen) of Granby, CT, 3 great granddaughters Amelia Louise Whitlow, Vivian Lucinda Whitlow, & Emma Rose Whitlow, one great grandson Aiden Thomas Whitlow, one sister-in-law Kate Radford Thomas of Wilmore, KY, one niece Debbie Caswell(Steve) of Upton, KY, one nephew David Thomas (Karen) of Lexington, KY, 2 great nieces Katie Caswell and Mary Esther Thomas, and 2 great nephews Luke Christian Thomas & John Paul Thomas.   

The family would like to say “thank you” to one special cousin Donald Baldock (Pam) of Bowling Green, KY who faithfully visited and brought supper (just about) every Sunday afternoon for the last 4 1/2 years of Doug’s life.   Your kindness & heart of compassion was a tremendous blessing to our family!

Funeral services will be held 1:00 p.m. Tuesday at the Hatcher & Saddler Funeral Home with burial in the Happy Valley Memorial Gardens.  Visitation will be after 11:00 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.