V. V. Whittington

Whittington grave at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in Haughton, Louisiana

Volney Voss Whittington, known as V. V. Whittington or Voss Whittington (September 26, 1893 – February 4, 1974),^[1] was a banker from Bossier Parish in northwestern Louisiana who served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1928 to 1932.^[2]

Biography

Whittington was born in Ivan in Bossier Parish but resided most of his life in the parish seat of Benton, north of Bossier City. He served in the United States Navy during World War I and was thereafter affiliated with both the American Legion and another veterans organization, the Forty and Eight. He was a Baptist, a Mason, and a member of the Lions Club.^[3]

After his state senate service, Whittington was the Bossier parish treasurer.^[4] Whittington was the president of the since defunct Bossier Bank and Trust Company, a state-chartered institution founded in 1923. BB&T was ultimately closed on Friday, June 13, 1986, by the Louisiana Banking Commission. It had assets at the time of $204.4 million. BB&T was absorbed by the First National Bank of Shreveport^[5] BB&T ultimately became part of the Chase network.

From 1948 to 1949, Whittington was president of the Louisiana Bankers Association, one of five Bossier Parish bankers to have served in the top position. The others were John J. Doles, Sr. (1956–1957) of Plain Dealing (1956–1957), who held Whittington's Senate seat from 1952 to 1956, J. A. "Sonny" Dunnam, Jr., of Benton (1966–1967), John J. Doles, Jr., of Plain Dealing (1982–1983), and Will C. Hubbard (born 1946) of Citizen’s National Bank in Bossier City, who served from 1997 to 1998.^[6]

Whittington was also a president of the Louisiana State Fair held each fall in Shreveport and the Red River Waterway Association, an industrial trade association that lobbied for navigation of the Red River through northwestern Louisiana.^[7]

Whittington and his wife, the former Anna Harris (1884–1982),^[1] resided in Benton. He died at the age of eighty. They are interred at Hillcrest Cemetery in Haughton east of Bossier City.^[3] The Whittingtons had two daughters. Ann W. Graham (1921–1983) and her husband, James E. Graham, Sr. (1920–2003),^[1] owned Graham's Hardware and had considerable property in Bossier City. They had two sons, Voss Whittington Graham (born 1948), a motivational speaker in Cordova, near Memphis, Tennessee, and James E. Graham, Jr., of Dallas, Texas.^[8] Florence, or "Flo" (1923–2009) was first married to State Representative Walter O. Bigby (1927–1980)^[1] of Bossier City. They had a son, Walter O. "Walt" Bigby, Jr. (born 1964), a business consultant from Bossier City.^[9] Seventeen years after Bigby's death, Florence, a businesswoman in her own right, married Judge Oscar E. Price.^[10]

References