Harold A. White Jr. passed peacefully from this earth on January 7th, 2025. He died of complications following hip surgery after a fall at his Amherst home on December 14th. He was 95 years old.
Born February 20th, 1929, in Jerome, Idaho to Helen (Haworth) White and Harold A. White Sr., "Hal" was raised in a series of Western and Midwest towns, as the family followed the uncertain fortunes of his father's eventually legendary football coaching career. During his late teens in Colorado, Hal found community and more, meeting co-counselor and the love of his life, Charlotte Ann Hagy, through Christian mission Young Life. This time, when the inevitable moving day arrived, Hal stayed behind and graduated valedictorian of his high school in Colorado Springs, Class of '48.
"Char" and Hal reconnected in Illinois, where they both attended Wheaton College, with Hal becoming class president and captain of the basketball team. Following graduation in 1954, the couple wed and remained married for 70 years.
New England and a teaching degree beckoned, so in 1960, the Whites, now a family of four, settled in Needham, Massachusetts, where Hal worked the night shift as janitor at Carter's Underwear factory while pursuing graduate studies at Boston University. Hard work in and out of school resulted in a position teaching American Literature at Mass Bay Community College.
Throughout and following his years teaching, Hal furthered his scholarship in American literature, developing special expertise in the work of Willa Cather, William Faulkner, and Walt Whitman. While on sabbatical from his teaching position in the 1980's, Hal expanded his field of interest to Native American literature of the US Southwest, contributing research to First Nations studies for the statewide Massachusetts Community College curriculum.
Hal loved riding his bike, regularly commuting to work from Needham to Watertown. He often reminisced fondly about a cycling adventure with his teenaged son Matt, when they pedaled from Boston to Montreal. Hal also loved driving, almost perhaps as much as reading, and despite occasionally fantasizing about becoming a truck driver in later life, he savored the 13 years he spent working at Border's Bookstore in Framingham following his retirement from teaching.
Beginning in 1970, the Society of Friends at Wellesley Friends Meeting became the social and spiritual center for Hal and his family. It's impossible to overstate the importance of that relationship, and the myriad lifelong friendships formed and nurtured over many years.
Moving to Amherst in 2012, Hal and Char continued their Quaker journey and joined Mt. Toby Friends Meeting, which provided new friends and meaningful connections for the remainder of his life.
Near the end, Hal, beaming, with his eyes bright and clear declared in a voice full of wonder, "It's been wild! It's been beautiful…but wild."
Hal is survived by his beloved wife, Charlotte, daughters Connie (husband Greg) and Paula, and grandsons Thaddeus, Everett, Lucas (partner Charlotte), and Dana (wife Hao). He was predeceased in 2021 by son Matthew (wife Elizabeth). Hal was also loved by his many nieces, nephews, and anyone who was lucky enough to know him.