EASLEY — Lettie Calloway Wheedleton (known to most as Mimi), 88, of Easley, passed away on Jan. 22, 2010, at the McCall Hospice House of Greenville. She had been a resident of Countryside Village Assisted Living for more than four years. Born June 3, 1921 in Salisbury, Maryland to Gordon Howard Calloway and Zillah Parsons Calloway Hitchens.

Lettie played basketball for Wicomico High School and later coached her church league girl’s basketball team. While in Salisbury she was the pastor’s secretary at Allen Memorial Baptist Church and later became the administrative assistant to Maryland State Sen. Mary L. Nock. Upon moving to North Carolina, she became the assistant to the Administrator of Catawba Memorial Hospital. While in N.C., she became director of the Hickory chapter of the Sweet Adelines. Moving to Baltimore to be near her family, she continued her career as administrative assistant to the Administrator of Mt. Sinai Hospital. Later she went to work for and retired from the Baptist Convention of MD/DE as the assistant to the Director of WMU. She was also the Music Director at the Lee Street Memorial Baptist Church. When her daughter moved to South Carolina, she followed and became the proof reader for the Easley Progress, working there beyond her 80th birthday.

She had the distinction of seeing five U.S. Presidents in person. As a young girl she saw President Hurbert Hoover on a visit to the White House. President Franklin D Roosevelt came to her high school and she was asked to transcribe his speech. In 1963 she was in the Dallas airport and saw President John F Kennedy and Jackie as they arrived. While at the airport coffee shop just a few minutes later she heard of his assassination. While in Baltimore, President Jimmy Carter passed by her shaking hands with the crowds shortly after he took office and while working for the Easley Progress she met George W Bush and got his autograph when he stopped by Jimmy’s Restaurant in Easley during his campaign trail.

She was a member of Rock Springs Baptist Church in Easley.

She is predeceased by her mother and father, her brother Howard and a sister and brother-in-law Iva and Donald G Lewers and a brother-in-law, Maurice Fields.

She is survived by a son, Everett Carroll Wheedleton Jr. and wife Margie McKinney Wheedleton of Chantilly, Va., a daughter, Connie W. Ponder and husband Norman S. Ponder of Greenville; five grandchildren, Chris and Katie Wheedleton, Brad and Cristiane Wheedleton, Dean and Miriam Ponder, Cindy and Stan Painter, Christine and David Wallace, seven great-grandchildren, Danny and Kevin Wheedleton, Trevor and Chad Painter, Joy and Gracie Wallace and Noah Ponder and a sister, Thelma Calloway Fields of Salisbury, MD.

The family will welcome friends in the chapel at Rock Springs Baptist Church in Easley, at 2 p.m. on Saturday Jan. 30 and a service to celebrate her life will begin at 3 p.m.

Burial will be held at a later date in Salisbury, MD. In lieu of flowers memorials may be sent to: Open Arms Hospice at the McCall Hospice House of Greenville, 1836 W Georgia RD, Simpsonville, SC 29680.