Jack Whitmore could sell just about anything. In a decades-long career as a manufacturers representative, he sold furniture, encyclopedias and china and glass. He was a salesman in California, Connecticut, Florida and Atlanta, among other places. And he was a furniture manufacturer in Mexico and China.
"He could sell anything to anybody," said his former wife, Carolyn Whitmore of Atlanta.
Jack Rodgers Whitmore, 75, of Atlanta, died Monday of heart failure at Piedmont Hospital. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Sandy Springs Chapel Funeral Directors, which is handling arrangements.
Mr. Whitmore was born in Lake Mary, Fla., the youngest of 13 children. In 1951, he graduated from Mainland High School in Daytona Beach and joined the Army and served in the Korean War. After service, earned a bachelor's degree in business at the University of Florida, then moved to California and sold books.
Mr. Whitmore bounced from various cities before returning to Florida. In Jacksonville, he met his future wife when he applied for a job selling furniture at Ivey's department store.
"He sold himself to me when I thought he was a jerk," said Mrs. Whitmore, who remained close to her husband after they divorced 23 years ago.
In Atlanta, Mr. Whitmore sold furniture. He worked for several companies before becoming a furniture manufacturer in Mexico. He did the same thing in China, where he eventually started manufacturing caskets, said his daughter, Linda Whitmore-Ash of Atlanta.
Other survivors are another daughter, Susan Whitmore and a son, Robert Whitmore, both of Atlanta: four sisters, Virginia Clark, Nancy Robinson, Barbara Fromberger, all of Daytona Beach, Fla.; and Stella Harrington of Houston; and six grandchildren.
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