Former Newport News Vice Mayor remembered for his persistence, loyalty

Darrel Whitaker said that since his father, Joseph Whitaker, died Jan. 8, plenty of people have brought up his service as a Newport News City Councilman and Vice Mayor.

But Whitaker’s public service and dedication to those around him went back much further than his time in elected office, his son said.

At a celebration of Whitaker’s life, held Saturday at First Baptist Church Jefferson Park, Darrel Whitaker said his father fought for civil rights in the 50s and 60s, holding voter registration drives before they had a name and fighting poll taxes and anything that may be an obstacle to voters on Election Day.

“Obama wasn’t the first to say, ‘Yes we can,’ ” Darrel Whitaker said.

Whitaker, 84, served as an election officer and was on the city’s Planning Commission for more than 30 years before he was elected to City Council in 2004. He declined to run for re-election in 2014 to care for his wife, Viola Whitaker. She died in August of 2018.

At the celebration Saturday, people described Whitaker as a man of persistence.

The Rev. Reginald C. Woodhouse of First Baptist said Whitaker, an avid runner, was determined to get him into shape. When Whitaker said he wanted Woodhouse to run marathon distances with him, Woodhouse’s recalled thinking “the devil is alive,” drawing laughs from the crowd Saturday.

Whitaker would call Woodhouse at 6 a.m. to get him up to exercise and admonish the reverend if he chose to sleep in instead. Woodhouse said he hasn’t gotten to the endurance level of Whitaker, who ran long distances into his later years. But Whitaker helped Woodhouse work up to running five miles at a time.

Whitaker used running to raise awareness and money for diabetes prevention and for college scholarships. A 2005 Daily Press story reported Whitaker raised $2,000 for diabetes research on his own through a 20-mile run, part of a larger effort to raise $10,000.

He completed the run despite a couple trips on curbs and some cuts, bumps and bruises. “I was afraid I was so hurt that I couldn’t run anymore,” Whitaker told a Daily Press reporter. “Man, I got up so fast. I didn’t want you folks to say, ‘He couldn’t make it. He’s washed up.’ ” Whitaker was 71 years old at the time.

In a letter of condolence to the Whitaker family, Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott commended Whitaker for pushing for affordable housing in the Southeast Community.

Darrel Whittaker said his father created opportunities for others despite the challenges around them.

He recalled his father built a house next to “cardboard city” on Madison Avenue because it wasn’t the best neighborhood. He set roots where he could make a difference.

Loyalty was important to Whitaker, said his friend Bennie Steele, a member of the Dochiki Civic and Social Club to which Whitaker belonged. To be Whitaker’s friend, you had to be his friend forever, Steele said.

Whitaker was born in Enfield, N.C., and graduated from Newport News’ Carver High School. He was also educated at Norfolk State College and Peninsula Business College. He retired from Lowe’s as a contractor.

Whitaker was buried Saturday at Hampton Memorial Gardens. He is survived by four children, Lamont Whitaker, Darrel Whitaker, Regina Harrison and DyVeta Whitaker and many other family members.