Carolina Vassil "Lena" Whitehead

"Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all." Proverbs 31:28-29. Lena Vassil Whitehead, loving wife and mother, died on Wednesday, July 25, 2007, at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. A resident of Holden, she was born on Jan. 14, 1929, in Michigan, was reared in Albany and lived most of her life in Baton Rouge. She was a retired employee of the Kroger Co. and a former employee of A&P. She loved to cook for her family and friends and loved music. She was also very proud of her Hungarian heritage. Visitation at Seale Funeral Home, 20335 Texas St., Livingston, was on Friday, July 27, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Visitation resumes at the funeral home on Saturday, July 28, from 8:30 a.m. until religious service at 10 a.m., conducted by the Rev. Byron Comish. Interment in Stafford Cemetery No. 1 in Holden. She is survived by her loving husband of 58 years, Arthur Whitehead; a sister, Margaret Koles of Albany; three sons, Russell Whitehead and wife Nancy G., Randy Whitehead and wife Kim, and Donald Whitehead and wife Nancy D.; a daughter, Cheryl Whitehead Traylor and husband Ed; eight grandchildren, Amy Whitehead Crawford and husband Barry, Joshua Whitehead and wife Kim of Knoxville, Tenn., Anissa Whitehead, Carrie Whitehead Fontenot and husband Adrian, Stephen Whitehead and fiancée Erin Nesbit, Ashley Whitehead, Benjamin Whitehead, and Ainsley Traylor; five great-grandchildren, Brendon and Payton Fontenot, Caroline Crawford, and Hayden and Madison Whitehead, both of Knoxville; sister-in-law, Merle Sprouse; brothers-in-law, Floyd Whitehead and wife Louise of Lake Jackson, Texas, Wayne Whitehead and wife Norma of Panarama Village, Texas, and Charles Sprouse; and a host of loving nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, Steve and Mary Vassil; siblings, Elizabeth Alcorn, Steve Vassil, Joe Vassil, Anna Friedman and Helen Davis; and an infant granddaughter, Leslie Michelle Whitehead. Pallbearers will be Julius Friedman, John Friedman, Frank Koles III, Tom Pankey, Barry Crawford and Adrian Fontenot. Special thanks to Dr. Kean Day, Dr. Stephen Gremillion, good Samaritans Kelly Sanders, Terry Bergeron and the staff of the trauma center and CCU at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. Memorial donations may be made to the Magnolia Baptist Church Building Fund in Holden.