Richard L White

Richard L. White passed away on March 12, 2019. He was born July 21, 1928 in Jamestown, North Dakota, the son of Edgar and Ila White.

The family lived in Fargo, N.D., but Richard spent summers in Melville from age 2-13 with his grandparents, where he had a Tom Sawyer boyhood. Grandpa Kyte was a political and humorous writer for the local newspaper, and a good one.

In 1939 the family moved to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota where his father started an electrical business. But when World War II started they could not get wiring so he had to go out of business. His father called Willis Jeep in Minneapolis and took the train there but could not get into the plant that evening. One of the men heard about Manitowoc Shipbuilding in Wisconsin hiring, and several men took the train to Manitowoc, his father having just enough money for the fare.

The family moved to Manitowoc in 1941, lived there till 1944, then moved to Peru, Illinois, where Richard graduated from High School. He moved back to Manitowoc in 1946 and married Gertrude Anthold on December 23, 1947. He joined the Army Air Corps and served 1947-1950.

Completing duty, he attended the Milwaukee School of Engineering on the GI Bill where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. Some years later he attended Northwestern University for a Master of Science degree in the Graduate School. As an Electrical Engineer he worked in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, California and Phoenix as a manager, often as a consultant, had several patents and loved it. But after 25 years no one wanted to hire him, and he and his wife offered to volunteer at the Southwest Bible Society in Scottsdale, distributing one million Bibles and related materials at cost, with little salary.

It took about 5 years to realize the Lord was leading Richard out of Engineering, into teaching classes in Hebrew and the Bible for 22 years. The Whites traveled extensively in the US, Europe and Asia, where he spent much of their time teaching. Born into a teaching family, he taught Sunday School for over 50 years. His wife, Gertrude, died in 1991 and that year he married a longtime friend of the family, Phyllis.

He is survived by wife, Phyllis; sister, Ramona; brother, Allen; children, Lynda, Nancy and David; 7 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by daughter, Barbara and grandson, Jesse.

A Graveside Service will be held on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. at the Show Low Cemetery, 300 E. Adams, Show Low, Arizona.