Florence Lavada (Blasa) Whitehead | 84 | Jerseyville

Florence Lavada (Blasa) Whitehead, 84, died at 10:25 a.m., Monday, September 13, 2021 at Willow Rose Rehab and Health Care Center in Jerseyville.

A lifelong resident of Jersey County, she was born on January 28, 1937, one of four children born to Jasper H. and Hilda (Walker) Blasa.

She married James Fredrick Whitehead on June 21, 1953 at Bethel Methodist Church in Dow and together they raised their four sons and built a life that spanned 42 years, prior to his death on January 16, 1996.

She worked for many years as a caregiver at Beverly Farms in Godfrey and truly enjoyed the work that she did and the friendships she made throughout her career, ultimately retiring in 2001.

Surviving are three sons and a daughter in-law, Steve Whitehead and Fredrick Wayne Whitehead, both of Jerseyville and Thomas (Deborah) Whitehead of Roxana; fifteen grandchildren,  Rodney (Ming) Whitehead of Texas, Tony (Maggie) Whitehead of Alton, Timmy (Carrie) Whitehead of Texas, Jennifer Whitehead of Bloomington, Jeremy Whitehead of Jerseyville, Justin Whitehead of California, Annie Whitehead of Jerseyville, Jason Whitehead of Alton, Derrik Whitehead of Alton, Brandon Whitehead, Crystal (Marc) Cox of Delhi, Lavada (Louis) Fischer of Hartford, Taylor Whitehead of Wood River, Hanna Whitehead of Alton and Aaron Whitehead of Alton; as well as numerous great grandchildren.

In addition to her parents and her husband, she was preceded in death by a son, Walter Bradley Whitehead; two grandsons, James Brandon Whitehead and Thomas Ray Whitehead Jr.; a brother, Wilber E. Blasa and two sisters, Garnetta Edwards and Mary Jane Campbell.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m., Monday, September 20, 2021 at Crawford Funeral Home in Jerseyville where funeral services will be conducted at 10 a.m., Tuesday.

Burial will follow at Valhalla Memorial Park in Godfrey.

Memories may be shared with the family by visiting www.crawfordfunerals.com