John W. Whatley (Bud), 91, passed away on the 25^th of October 2023 in Overland Park, KS.  He was born on July 23, 1932 in Alabama City, AL to Willy Cooper Whatley and Mattie Ophelia (Warner) Whatley.  John is a 20 year veteran of the U.S. Army.  He served in the Korean and Vietnam wars and lived all around the world working as a high speed morse code interceptor for the Army Security Agency.  He met and married Doris P. Buckley from Lenexa, KS, in Vienna, Austria where they were both stationed.  Doris was a secretary in the Foreign Service at that time.  Upon his retirement, they moved to Overland Park, KS where John had a 25 year career as a police dispatcher for the Prairie Village Police Department.  John loved his dogs, reading a good book, smoking his pipe and cheering on his beloved University of Alabama football team.  Dad is preceded in death by his parents and siblings Cooper Whatley, Warner Whatley, Tom Whatley and Nita Blakely and his wife Doris.  He is survived by his children Tom Whatley, Overland Park; Melissa Smith (David) Overland Park; grandchildren Ryne Smith, Anna Smith and Luke Smith and a loving extended family.

A graveside service will be held at 11:00 on Thursday November 9 at St. John’s Cemetery, Lenexa, KS.  In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to K9 for Warriors.org or the ASPCA.

Our family would like to thank the staff at St. Joseph Place and Vitas Hospice for the compassionate given to dad in his final years.