Milton E. ‘Bus’ Whitehead, 82, Jr. (Please omit Jr.) of Lincoln, died Friday, June 11, 2010 at home. Bus was born on January 13, 1928 to Milton E. and Gladys (Adams) Whitehead in Kansas City, Kansas.
Bus grew up in Scottsbluff, Nebraska and attended the University of Nebraska. Bus loved his family, community, country and the University. A standout basketball player, Bus held nine scoring records when he graduated from the University in 1950. He was named to the All Big Seven Conference first team in 1949 and 1950; to the 1950 East-West All Star Game in Madison Square Garden; and was an AAU All American in 1952. Bus was a member of the University of Nebraska Basketball Hall of Fame and the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame. Drafted by pro basketball’s Chicago Stags, Bus chose instead to play on Phillips Petroleum Company’s AAU team based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
He worked as a salesman for the company during the off-season. In 1959, Bus founded Whitehead Oil Company in Lincoln. Bus was very active in the community and served on numerous boards of directors. He loved his many breakfast clubs, lunch groups and playing cards with friends in the Nineteenth Hole. Bus was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and received its prestigious Significant Sig Award in 2005. Bus was married for 56 years to Jeannie who passed away in January 2009.
He was a loving son, brother, husband, dad and grandpa. He will be missed by his daughter, Sydney Uthoff and husband Steve, of Houston, Texas; daughter, Lesley Jaggers and husband Kent, of Lincoln; son, Mark Whitehead and wife Chris, of Lincoln; five grandchildren, Brittany Uthoff; Kyle and Avery Jaggers; Maddie and Katie Whitehead; sister, Kay Rothenberger, of Gering, Nebraska; brother-in-law, Sidney Hargis and wife Jeanne, of Highland, Kansas; and several nieces and nephews.
Memorial Service: 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2110 Sheridan Blvd.
Memorials to the University of Nebraska Foundation, Suite 300, 1010 Lincoln Mall, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508.
No Visitation/Cremation.