Tina "Tyna" M. Whitaker

Tina “Tyna” Marie Whitaker, age 83, of Bayard, Nebraska, went home to be with the Lord and her husband on Sunday, November 2, 2025, at Chimney Rock Villa Nursing Home in Bayard. Cremation has taken place in accordance with her wishes. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, November 29, 2025, at Northfield Church in Gering, with Dr. Kiley Callaway officiating. Online condolences may be expressed by visiting Tyna's obituary page viewable at www.reverencefuneralparlor.com.

Tyna was born on June 22,1942, in Jackson, Michigan, to Paul Emil and Mary Bernadine (Miller) Shannon. She graduated from Folsom High School and attended Multnomah Bible College in Portland, Oregon.

She married William “Bill” Whitaker on April 14, 1961, in Folsom, California. To this union, their beloved daughter Susan was born. Tyna followed her husband to Deerfield, Illinois, in the early 70’s while he attended Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Her love of books and reading led her to a job working in the college library. The family moved to Brainerd, Minnesota, following Bill’s graduation where Tyna worked as a church secretary.

They later moved to Southern California in the early 80’s. She worked as an Executive Assistant at both Talbott College and PacifiCare Health Insurance for many years. Tyna loved to work alongside her husband in her spare time while he worked as a funeral director. She enjoyed making family’s loved ones look as close as she could to the pictures provided by the families.

Tyna and Bill took some incredible trips in all their travels. They loved scuba diving while visiting the Grand Caymen Islands, traveling around Australia, and many other road side adventures in their RV. The couple moved to Scottsbluff in 2004 to be near their daughter Susan and her four children. Tyna worked in the office at Northfield Assisted Living, as well as Lehman Brothers, also known as Aurora. Following her retirement from Aurora, Tyna took up several hobbies including quilting, needlework, card making, reading, and coloring.

After her husband passed, Tyna moved to Wel-Life Assisted Living in Scottsbluff and later to Chimney Rock Villa. She gained even more family with the care from her favorite nurses and staff members there. They took such great care of her and assured that she was comfortable in her last days after being placed on hospice.

Survivors include her daughter, Susan Whitaker of Gering, Nebraska; grandchildren, Josh (Amanda) Ellstrom of Vernal, Utah, Micah (Kristi) Ellstrom of Post Falls, Idaho, Kayla Mendez of Gering, Nebraska, and Colt (Alexis Murray) Whitaker of Scottsbluff, Nebraska; great-grandchildren, Faith Markey, Damien, Joshua, and Grace Ellstrom, Elias and Grayson Mendez, and Theodore and Blythe Ellstrom; great-great grandchildren, Saige and Wrenleigh Markey; and sisters, Paula (Rod) Carlson of Windsor, Colorado and Terri (Barry) Renfro of San Jose, California.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Bill Whitaker.