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Olivet Heard Whitaker was born June 14, 1920 in Macon, GA to the Late Garfield & Minnie Walker. Olivet was the oldest of two children. Her sister Lois Tipton precedesd her in death.

As a child her family migrated to Cleveland, Ohio to find employment. They lived on the west side of Cleveland where she attended Hicks Elementary School, which was located behind where The West Side Market is currently. When she was 13 years old they moved to the east side in the Kinsman area. Olivet then attended Rawlings Jr High where she met her lifelong best friend Eva Wright (deceased). She also met one of her dear and close lifetime friends, Ardell Moore. She attended John Hay High School and graduated in 1938. Olivet worked at Fisher Body Plant as a riveter, making airplane wings. Olivet was an elevator operator in downtown Cleveland at the Fidelity building. There she met a lawyer that admired her professionalism and recommended that she take the civil service test. He hired her to work at the County welfare building where she started as a social worker before advancing to a supervisory position. She retired from there in 1982.

Olivet married William Heard and to that union they were blessed with three beautiful children, William (deceased), Judith (deceased), Ronald and she lovingly welcomed Valerie and William (Uncle Buck). She was affectionately known as "Mom" throughout the family. After the loss of her first husband she found love again with Sam Whitaker. They married and spent many happy years together, where she gladly welcomed daughters Laura May and Mary Ann and son Earl.

Mom and her best friend, Eva, enjoyed a lot of fun things together such as sewing lessons, piano, and organ lessons. They even joined the YWCA where they had the opportunity to travel the world, along with friend Sandy Wright (Eva's daughter). She has visited places like Arizona, South Dakota, New Orleans, Florida, Oklahoma, Alaska, Canada, Nova Scotia, England, Germany, and France. Mom was a very independent woman and she was determined to get her license. She took driving lessons in her older years and bought her first car in 1982. Mom's hobbies were doing puzzles, she would put together a 2,000-piece puzzle with ease. She also enjoyed sports; initially her passion was the Guardians, formerly know as Indians. Mom kept tons of notebooks full of baseball stats. She could tell you how many runs, hits, and outs they had in any game. Then, as Lebron James was drafted to the Cleveland Cavaliers, that became her new favorite sport as she abruptly stopped watching baseball and switched to basketball. Mom admired Lebron for his selfless giving and concern for his community. Mom also was a selfless giver. She had several charities that she donated to on a regular basis, such as Cleveland Food Bank, Salvation Army, City Mission and UNICEF. Mom also enjoyed talking to with her family and friends. She was always up to an encouraging conversation.

Mom leaves to cherish the memories of her life: sons Ronald, William (Uncle Buck), Pete (son in law), daughters Valerie (Robert), Mary Ann, Laura Mary, Charlotte (daughter in law), Wilma (former daughter in law), Mary Jane (sister in law), Harden (brother in law), 16 grandchildren, 31 great grandchildren, 5 great-great grandchildren; a special friend, Shirley Bevel, who was a big help to Mom, and a host of nieces and nephews, cousins and friends.