Dancing Dave Whatley A Mural, A Statue, an Unmarked Grave

By: Janet Kynard, It Happens in Alabama

My Heart was broken like a little child. Remember when we were children and things didn’t go according to our plans? It was the end of the World! It’s like getting skates or a bike on Christmas, only to open the door, and it’s raining in Alabama. That’s what happened to me! I cried like my favorite pet or toy was taken away. Let’s back up and let you know what happened.

I was on a business trip to Dothan, Alabama. I had not been there in years, as this was out of my territory. So while I was there, I decided to learn more about this town, for posts for my website and articles for a book I am writing. I had passed through there on the way to the beach for decades.
When I checked into the Clarion, I noticed a visitor guide. I picked it up and after getting settled in my room, I read it from cover to cover. After getting finished with my work the next morning, I began my journey. First stop was the Statue of Jonathan. Crazy place to start, right? The engraving on the statue read, “For I heard Them Say ‘Let Us Go to Dothan’” (Genesis 37:17). I titled my article about the murals of the Wiregrass based on this bible verse.

As I traveled around the downtown area, I noticed I was surrounded by nuts! Yep Peanuts! While researching the murals and peanuts on the internet, I discovered  an amazing person! Dancing Dave Whatley! He had a peanut that was donate in his honor and a mural of him is being painted. It is being painted on a historic building across from the G W Carver Interpretive Museum and is expected to be dedicated the first of November, during the Peanut Festival.


The more I read about Dave, the more excited I got. I felt an immediate kinship to him, as if I had known him forever. I found out where he lived; that he was always at every festival, parade and event, was a permanent fixture around town and could often be found walking down Hwy 431 or Hwy 52. After finding out on the internet that he had a peanut in Headland, Alabama, just outside of Dothan, I got, just like a child, so excited. I might be able to meet him. I knew I had to keep my eyes pealed, just in case I passed him on the four lane.

The next news release broke my heart, like a child on a rainy Christmas morning with a new pair of skates under my arm. I found out that the person I had developed a connection too was gone. I was almost a year late. Dave had died of cancer on September 19, 2015. I cried like a baby the rest of the night. I felt so empty, like I had just lost a member of my own family.

I stored his final resting place in my GPS and the next day, was off to Memory Hills Cemetery. I wanted to give Dave a present, so I stopped on the way, to pick up flowers for his grave. I wanted white roses because he always wore white, but I could not find white ones. Then I remembered a picture of him wearing a red tie. I purchased red roses and found white ribbon with rhinestones on it. How perfect I thought. Dave will get a smile from this. The rhinestones will sparkle like the twinkle in his eye, when he made others smile.

I walked into Ward-Wilson Funeral home with a tablet and a pen to get directions to his grave site. When I approached Dee and a gentleman at the desk, Robert Greathouse was coming down the hall to greet me. With a sympathetic, condoling look on their faces, skin in a shade of gray and a very quiet concerned voice, he was asked, “Can I help you.” I replied, “I hope you can. I am looking for the grave of Dancing Dave Whatley. I understand he is buried here.” At that very moment all 3 people got a twinkle in their eye, a huge smile on their face, their skin turned Alabama peach and the quiet voices turned into excitement.

Robert said, “I Know exactly where it is. Follow me. I’ll take to right to it.” I pulled my little blue Kia around the building to follow his big red truck and off we went.  As I followed him, I drew the directions to Dave’s final resting place, on my tablet laying in the seat next to me; first right past the funeral home, first left, first left, then Robert parked on the right near the corner. With a happy heart, I got out of my car with Flowers and camera in hand.

Robert walked back and forth, back and forth, forward and backwards for nearly 5 minutes looking for the headstone. I reminded him that Dave’s last name was Whatley. Not seeing a headstone with the name Whatley on it. I said “He was buried almost one year ago. How long does it take for the grass to grow back?” He continued to walk around, when the groundskeeper drove up and ask if he could help. He pointed to a small sunken spot in the dirt near to the curb. I burst into tears! We were standing on Dave and had been walking all over the top of him! Just like other people would have, when coming to visit their loved ones and not even realizing he was there.

Here I was with flowers that I was so excited to give to Dave, my camera and ready to meet the legend that I had connected with, only to find out he was buried in an unmarked grave? I broke down crying right there in front of both of those men! Without even thinking, the first words out of my mouth were “This is unacceptable, we have got to fix this!”

I knew immediately what I had to do! It was at that moment that it became very clear why God had sent me to Dothan. “For I heard Them say ‘Let Us Go to Dothan'” took on a very different meaning that day.

We have now set up a GoFundMe account to raise $8000.   https://www.gofundme.com/dancingdavegrave

Please share this link with everyone you know on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and all your social media platforms.

The money raised will be used to purchase a wonderful head stone from Ingram Memorial Co. in Dothan.  They donated the marker at Dave’s Peanut statue in Headland, Alabama.  We want to have the same etching on his headstone and we want a story about him on the back so no one ever forgets the happiness he brought to so many and how special of a person her was.

Money will also be paid to the cemetery to make sure new flowers are placed on the grave each season for as many years as the donations allow. This is one of the headstones we are considering, with Susan Langley’s help at Ingram Memorial Co. in Dothan, Alabama.

We would like to raise the money as soon as possible, so hopefully, we can present Dave with his headstone to coincide with the dedication of his mural the first of November, 2016.

This means a great deal to me and so many others. When I mentioned Dancing Dave to people, around town, they lit up. Their eyes sparkled and they got a huge smile on their face. When I told them about my visit to the cemetery, all smiles were gone and sparkles where replaced with a tear.

Your help in keeping his legacy alive is so greatly appreciated. We thank you so very much!

If you’d like to know more about “Dancing” Dave Whatley, here are more links:
ARTICLE: Discussions begin to create Dancing Dave mural
ARTICLE: Dancin’ Dave in hospice care after advanced cancer diagnosis
ARTICLE: Dancin’ Dave now has his own Peanut statue

Be sure to check out our other posts about Dothan, Alabama: 

“For I heard Them Say ‘Let Us Go to Dothan’” (Genesis 37:17)….. So I Did!

I’m Seeing Peanuts Everywhere, Have I Gone Nuts?