Samuel D. Whitfield

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Samuel D. Whitfield Obituary

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Samuel DuBois Whitfield was born December 1, 1930 in Memphis, TN. He would be the first of five boys born to the union of Marcus Harold and Lillian Norris Whitfield (both deceased).

The family relocated to Michigan where they would firmly plant roots. Samuel’s primary education would be completed in the cities of Lansing and Detroit. Unfortunately, at the age of ten, he would tragically lose his dad to pneumonia and it was declared immediately that he was now the “man of the house”. It would be a title not taken lightly. He would assist his mother in raising his four younger brothers, to the extent of securing odd jobs before school, after school, and on weekends to contribute towards household expenses. The culmination of his primary education would be at Northern High School in Detroit.

It would be at Northern High that Samuel was first introduced to the idea of “the military”. He joined the ROTC which sparked a passion in him to serve his country, a passion that would remain throughout his life. In 1947, at the young age of seventeen, he convinced his mother to sign the necessary documents to ensure his enlistment into U.S. Army.  

He became a career military soldier serving in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. He was awarded various medals and badges which would include: the Bronze Star medal, Vietnam Service and Campaign medals, Combat Infantry & Armed Service Reserve medals, Expert Infantry Badge, Korean Service medal, United Nations Service medal, and National Defense Service medal.

Samuel loved learning and this carried over into his military life. He would enroll in various military specialty schools such as: U.S. Army Infantry School, Corp. Survival School, Nuclear Weapons Refreshers School, Coml. Correspondence School and lastly, the USA School in Europe.

Samuel was committed to his country and to his position as a soldier in the United States Army. Over the course of his career, he would become a commissioned officer, an Infantry Unit Commander, and eventually be appointed a permanent Major of the United States Army. He would retire after 20 long years of service in June of 1968.

It was during the early part of his military career that Samuel would meet Ernestine Boyd. They would marry in February of 1955 and three children would be born to that union: Electa (deceased), Boyd, and Carole. Sadly, Ernestine passed away unexpectedly in May of 1971. Roughly four years later, Samuel would meet Dorothy Bostick Williams (mother of Tamara Lynn and Warren Grant). The two would marry in December of 1974 blending the two families together. In addition to their five children, their union would be blessed with two daughters, Anginette and DeAnne Renee.

Not much surpassed Samuel’s love for his family and the military, however, he had other interests. He always had a passion for business which ultimately led to him owning and operating Barton’s Candy store located inside Detroit’s Fisher Building. In addition, he, alongside his wife Dorothy, owned Samdor Services, Inc., a cleaning company which maintained contracts with several office buildings throughout the Detroit Metro area. He would run these companies all while working 9-5 with Wayne County Recorders Court Traffic Division and later with the State of Michigan as a Supervisor within the Dept. of Corrections.

Additional interests that Samuel had included dabbling in the stock market. He would watch the business channel regularly on TV, read the Wall Street Journal, and participated in investment clubs. He enjoyed reading, traveling, and was a huge fan of jazz. His favorites were the likes of Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, and Charlie Parker. Yet, it was the sultry voices of the women of jazz he admired most. There was no pain that the voices of Ella, Nina, Billie, Sarah, Dinah and Nancy could not soothe.  He would often reflect upon his luck of having had the chance to witness these greats in person in the States and overseas. In his later years he developed an affinity for the voice of contemporary artist, Sade.  He once remarked that she was the only one that came close to the “sultriness” of the legends.

Samuel had a love for many things, and last but not least he loved God. Lovingly referring to Him as “The Man Upstairs.” As with the military, he “served” in the church. He was a Deacon at Fellowship of Love, MBC (Detroit, MI). His other church affiliations would include New Mt. Sinai, MBC (Detroit, MI) and New Birth Baptist Church (Inkster, MI).

After 91 years, Samuel’s life ended peacefully in the early hours of Sunday morning, February 20, 2022. He was preceded in death by his parents, Marcus Harold and Lillian Norris Whitfield, brothers, Marcus Jr., Ivory, Howard, and Edwin, sister Marybelle, and daughter Electa. He leaves to cherish his memory, Dorothy, his beautiful wife of 47 years, three sons, Boyd (Camille), Warren, and Jeremy (Tyneshia); four daughters, Carole (Ivory) of Washington, DC, Tamara and Anginette of Capitol Heights, MD and DeAnne McGowan, four grandsons, Delues, Matthew, Kamal, and Jah’Zion, a brother, Joseph, a sister Mildred (Missouri), and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws, and cherished friends.