Christie C. Whitaker, LMSW, CFSP

Christie is a native of Newberry, South Carolina having grown up in the Bush River section. She received her undergraduate degree from Newberry College and her Master of Social Work degree from the University of South Carolina. She has completed additional course work in a number of areas including critical incident stress management and mass fatalities incident response courses.

Christie has been involved in funeral service for more than thirty years. She is a licensed funeral director and holds the distinction of being a Certified Funeral Service Professional. She is also a licensed Master of Social Work. Christie is a member of the South Carolina Funeral Directors Association and formerly chaired the Disaster Response Committee. She is a member of the National Funeral Directors Association and is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Academy of Funeral Service Practice.

Her other experiences include her work with the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) of the National Disaster Medical System, Department of Homeland Security where she served as the national team leader for Family Assistance. She has been instrumental in the development of protocol for working with families in crisis and in the development and growth of mental health programs and response procedures for various professionals. In addition, Christie has worked for government and private sectors, nationally and internationally, in crisis response. Her responses include such incidents as the terrorist acts of 9-11, the Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina floods, aviation incidents and fires. Her work has impacted the lives of many.

She has been actively involved in her community and state and has served on a number of local, state and national Boards. She currently serves on the Newberry County Hospital Foundation Board and the Piedmont Technical College Foundation Board. She is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer

She is married to R. Doggett Whitaker, the mother of four daughters, and has one granddaughter.