DaShonda Joseph-Whitlow
DaShonda (Shawny) Joseph–Whitlow earned her gold wings surrounded by her loving family at her residence on May 25, 2021. She was born to the late Beatrice Washington and Pastor Robert Joseph on March 17, 1970, at Akron City Hospital. She accepted the Lord at an early age at Peoples Baptist Church under the late Pastor George Goodman. Her mother instilled in her to keep God as the head of her household.
Shawny was married at an early age to Shawn Whitlow. From that marriage, 2 sons were born: Shawn Whitlow II and the late Jerome Whitlow. A few years later, Alicia Lee was born. Shawny was a proud mother, and she spent many years caring for her family.
DaShonda also began styling hair at a young age and was hosting many dinners for her friends and family. At the age of 16, Shawny pursued her dreams of becoming a beautician. She attended Washington’s Beauty Academy where they affectionately referred to her as “Baby Doll”. She was an apprentice at Artistic Hair Designers and also honed her skills at The Head Shop. Shawny grew her own clientele and went on to bless many with her skills until the early 2000s.
One day, she went on the road with a friend driving an 18-wheeler truck. That is when she discovered a love for long-distance truck driving. She worked diligently to earn her CDL, and with hard work and dedication, she was able to buy her own truck and became an owner-operator. As an owner-operator, Shawny joined “Women in Trucking” and became the poster woman. Her face was on billboards in the state of Kentucky. DaShonda was also awarded the “One Million Safe Miles award,” twice! In addition, DaShonda was able to accomplish reaching a six-figure income.
Because DaShonda had a love for the trucking industry, she went one step further, and “1 Enchantment LLC. “was formed. Yes, that is correct, DaShonda was an owner of her own trucking company, sometimes having 2 trucks on the road at the same time.
If you knew Shawny, you knew that she loved helping others. Shawny wanted to help others that made mistakes and needed a fresh start. She recruited felons to become truck drivers so they could have a career and feel good about themselves. It was important to her that others could achieve her same accomplishments. She wanted to leave a legacy, so she made sure both of her children, Shawn and Alicia, were also CDL licensed drivers and knew the importance of hard work and dedication to their dreams.
DaShonda was preceded in death by her mother, Beatrice Washington, and her son, Jerome Whitlow.
She is survived by her father, Robert (Sarita) Joseph; son Shawn Whitlow II and daughter, Alicia Lee; grandchildren, Sadie Whitlow, Shawn Whitlow III, Sophia Whitlow, Savanna Whitlow, and Sincere Whitlow and Dell Jaxson Harvey; sisters, DaWanda (David) Dorsey, Toya Joseph, Angie Henry, Yvett Monique Russel, Kymeka Mitchell; brothers, Antonio Allen, Donell Joyner, Robert Brown and Dontae Jones; niece, Lindsey (Kenneth) Peoples; nephews, Mark Williamson Jr, DeForest Phifer, Daze’ Phifer, and DeVon Hughes; 1 great-nephew, 3 great-nieces and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins family members, and friends.