For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one. — Khalil Gibran
Obituary
Fred James White (1947- 2026)
Fred James White, of Whidbey Island, WA, died at home in his sleep at the age of 78 from complications of acute pancreatitis on August 4th, 2026. He is survived by his wife, Clara Miller, his brother John Lee White, his six children, four grandchildren, and his dog Dobby.
Fred was born in Poteau, OK in 1947 to Paul Hiatt White and Grace Elizabeth Hodsdon. As a child Fred learned many survival skills and enjoyed time camping with the Boy Scouts. Fred has always been an animal lover, and animals gravitate towards him due to his gentle nature. When he was young, he even had a pet rooster who would sleep on the head of his bed.
Fred was educated at Kennewick High School before studying metallurgy at Washington State University (WSU). Fred took pride in his college, and you would often see him in WSU gear or watching one of their football games. While in college he met his first wife of sixteen years, Lynn Ellen Gaynor. They enjoyed rafting together and Fred was part of the Anti-Survival Rafters of the Palouse group. Fred enjoyed doing adventurous things, one summer during college he even had a job as a smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Fred received an MBA through WSU and wrote his thesis on mushroom farming which was his dream job.
After college, Fred and Lynn drove east in a VW bus where he got a job at North Chicago Refiners and Smelters. Although he had big dreams of being a mushroom farmer, he couldn’t quite get the business started. So, his mother in-law, Jean Lucille Gaynor, helped him get a job at Boeing where he was able to put his metallurgy training to work. While at Boeing, Fred participated in their rafting group, BEWET, as a guide and met his second wife Clara Miller. Fred worked hard to help support his family and worked for Boeing for many years until he retired in 2003.
Fred was a loving husband to Clara Miller for over thirty-four years. Together they traveled to many places, by plane and in their RV and sailboat. They also participated in many outdoor hobbies like rafting, fishing, clam digging, crabbing, sailing, hiking, hunting, and skiing. When they weren't on adventures they spent a lot of time with their friends and neighbors at their home on Whidbey Island in the Sandy Hook community where they spent their retirement together.
Fred was a devoted and caring father to his six children: Robert John White, Teresa Louise Bezerra (White), Patricia Ann White, Amanda Kazuko White, Christina Mayumi White, and Paul Michio White; and his four grandchildren: Grace Abigail Vaglio, Bella Anne Bezzera, Jordan Daniel Bezerra and Arrietty Claire Levinta who will dearly miss him and the life lessons he imparted to them. Among the life lessons were, when hiking, bring someone slower than you in case of bears and the best time to fish is anytime there is a pole in your hand.
Death is nothing at all - Henry Scott Holland
"Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight
I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!"
Gallery
Memory wall
Fred made a solo trip to visit my family in Pocatello, Idaho in the winter sometime between 1975 and 1978. If I remember correctly, on this trip Fred was trying to get his mushroom business going, so he was talking to the produce managers at grocery stores in Pocatello. While Fred was staying at our house, he went downhill (alpine) skiing with my Dad (Fred’s Uncle Adrian), my younger sister Melanie, and me. Many of you reading this will know that Fred developed into an excellent downhill skier, but at this point he had never been skiing in his life. We went to the nearby small ski area, Caribou. My Dad helped Fred rent skis, and offered to teach him how to ski at the bottom of the hill. My sister Melanie and I took off for the chair lift. Fred insisted on following us, so my Dad reluctantly accompanied him. They got off at the mid-station, while Melanie and I, who had both been skiing for a few years, went up to the top of the hill. It took a couple of hours for Fred to proceed down, with my Dad’s patient coaching, from the mid-station! Melanie and I kept skiing past them as we went up and down the hill. When Fred finally reached the bottom, he went into the lodge and stayed there for the rest of the day. I was delighted to learn that Fred had become an accomplished downhill skier after he met Clara! My older brother, Don, was lucky enough to ski with Fred and Clara a few times over the years.
I don’t have a photo from that visit, but I do have a photo of a young Fred, with my older sister Catharine and my older brother Don, before Melanie and I were born, during a visit to my parents’ house in Missoula, Montana. It might have been taken in 1956 or 1957. If you look closely at the photo, you can see that Fred’s shirt had his name on it!
Sorry to not have had the chance to know him better but can do so through his ongoing legacy and family
Memories . We are
So happy Chrissie came into our lives and are sad that she lost her father at , what I consider, a young age.
Our hearts go out to all the White family as you grieve and remember such a special man.
Kathy and Frans
Family tree
(Daughter of Fred & Lynn)
Bezerra
(Daughter of Fred & Lynn)
(Daughter of Fred & Clara)
Claire Levinta
(Daughter of Fred & Clara)
(Son of Fred & Clara)
(Daughter of Fred & Lynn)
Bezerra
(Daughter of Fred & Lynn)
(Daughter of Fred & Clara)
Claire Levinta
(Daughter of Fred & Clara)
(Son of Fred & Clara)
Favorites
Fred's Grandfather Willfred Wallace White was instrumental in helping to form and run this service.
Whites Mountain, a 9,162-foot peak in the Bitterroot Range of Montana, was named in 1958 for Forest Supervisor Wilfred Wallace White
The WW White Memorial Fishing Access Site, a public fishing area on the West Fork of the Bitterroot River in Darby, Montana, is also a tribute to Willfred Wallace White and a modern conservation achievement, preserving a vital fishing and recreation resource in the heart of Montana’s Bitterroot Valley.
Celebration of life
We'd love for you to wear a shirt that makes you think of Fred in honor of him. Shirts with funny sayings, Dad shirts, Cougar WSU gear, sailor hats, etc.
Fred loved potlucks, so we are having a potluck in his honor. If you can bring a dish to share it is encouraged and appreciated but not required. We are also planning to BBQ and will have a keg of beer and other beverages as well.
Sandy Hook Cabana Near the Pool
Whidbey Island
2:00pm-5:00pm
Speeches & toasts will be at 3:30pm, zoom or livestream information for those who cannot attend in person will be added soon.
Bonfire and beach hangout to follow for those who want to stay later, weather allowing.
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