Gainesville memorial service set for Georgia songwriter

GAINESVILLE - A memorial service will be held Wednesday for a Georgia songwriter who fell on hard times and lived his final days at Good News at Noon in Gainesville.

Ray Whitley, a Columbus native, was best known for his 1960s hits "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy" and "What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am."

Whitley told AccessNorthGA.com reporter Marc Eggers in a January 2011 interview he had struggled with alcoholism over the years, and he lived in his latter years in the homeless shelter at Good News at Noon. He sometimes played a guitar and sang his songs if asked.

The memorial service will be held in the Chapel of Little & Davenport Funeral Home in Gainesville at 1 p.m. on May 15.

Ray Whitley was 68.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/5/261416