“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal Life.”

John Robert Whittington, a sinner, spent his 74 years clinging to the promise of eternal life, and on Wednesday, September 30, 2026 his Savior fulfilled the covenant and brought him Home.

John was a Christian, a husband, a father, and a Texan, in that order. Born in Kilgore, TX, on February 21, 1952, he grew up in Luling, TX. There he worked cattle, played football, and learned to call ladies “ma’am.” Most importantly, it was there, among the mesquites and pump-jacks, that his mother taught him to love Jesus, and that is the legacy that he has passed on to his children and grandchildren.

At school at Southwest Texas State University, he met Debbie Searle and fell in love. In 1975 they embarked on their 51-year marriage.

Like Mark Twain, John would have said, “I love mankind, but I hate people”—but his life told a different story. Throughout John’s career as a financial advisor, he felt a deep responsibility to those who were entrusted to his care. He cared about stocks and bonds only because he cared about his clients’ families, their hopes, and their futures.

He was also deeply devoted to his family: his daughters watched him work hard, preach, and love their mother unwaveringly. Throughout his life, his children and grandchildren watched him wrestle with the Word of God and lean on the Promises. He cared deeply for the Church, the Bride of Christ, and strove to serve and care for her as he did for his own bride. He would insist that he did all those things imperfectly, and he would be right; however, God uses jars of clay, and through His servant, generations have been blessed.

John has eagerly anticipated his heavenly reunion with his parents, Gaines and Jo Whittington, brother, Gene Gaches, and sister, Mary Jo Meyer. He lived as though “this world was not his home; he was just a-passing through.” He is survived by his beloved bride Debbie, his daughters Megan Calvillo (John) and Haley Whittington, and by grandchildren who know that Granddad loved Jesus: Jonas, Avery, Afton, Judah, John Robert, and Jameson.

Visitation will be 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, October 6 at the Grace Lutheran Church in Little Rock with services beginning at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow at Forest Hills Cemetery. Pastor David Buchs will be officiating.