Steve Leslie Whittington

Steve L. Whittington, 72, of Amarillo passed peacefully in his home on January 19, 2023.

The family will receive guests on Monday, January 23, 2023, from 4pm to 6pm at Rector Funeral Home, 2800 S Osage. Steve will lie in state from 9am to 4pm on Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at the funeral home for informal visitation. Funeral services will be held in the funeral home's chapel on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 11am. Burial will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery. 

Steve was born on June 8, 1950 in Bastrop, Louisiana. Following his graduation from Caprock High School in 1968 in Amarillo, he enlisted and became a member of the United States Navy for four years. On July 10, 1976, he met Ruth at a bar called Freemans in Amarillo, 2 weeks later July 24 he proposed, and on September 3, 1976, they married. Steve worked for the City of Amarillo in the engineering department before retiring in utilities in 2005 after 32 years of service. Following retirement, he and Ruth became full time “RV-er’s” and got into work camping. He and Ruth were inseparable. Together they saw 46 of the states in their travels.  

Aside from his love of seeing the country, Steve found great pleasure in many different activities. When his children were young, he loved taking them to the Canadian River to ride dirt bikes and they never missed the annual mud bogs in February. He loved to play golf, wood working, watching his grandchildren play sports, and crossword puzzles. In his free time, he loved to watch and read Westerns. He was especially fond of history and would study it in detail. He passed time by playing poker and/or dominoes with his many friends and family. When Christmas rolled around, the family could always count on Steve’s famous sausage meatballs to be on the menu.

Steve is preceded in death by his son Christopher Whittington and his mother Dorothy (Wilson) Madden. Those left to cherish his memories are his beloved Ruth, son Jason Whittington and  Kristen Davidson, daughter Christina Whittington and Ryan Wells, and 6 grandchildren, Cheyenne, Reese, Daniel, Reagan, Hayden, and Christopher, all of Amarillo, his birth mother Mary (Whittington) Freeland, sisters Joyce Rainbolt and Ernest of Bastrop, LA, Margie McDonald and Bennie of Flowery Branch, GA, Vickie DeZubay and Eric of Charlotte, NC, Anita Fabela and Rick of Bastrop, LA, and LaQuita Henderson of Great Falls, MT.; as well as many nieces, nephews, and other beloved family and dear friends.

In lieu of flowers the family kindly asks that you make donations to the Texas Panhandle War Memorial or donate to the Coffee Memorial Blood Center in honor of Steve.