Herbert Donald White

Don was born in Warren, PA, the second of three sons, to Basil and Alice (Firth) White. He and his brothers grew up in Warren, spending several summers in nearby Lander where the family owned a small farm. The boys loved the outdoors and as soon as Jay, Don and Randy turned 12, they became Boy Scouts.

Don graduated from Warren High School where he played varsity football and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. There he met Jeanne Clark, who had moved with her family from the San Diego area when she was a high school senior. After starting at Albright College on a Boy Scout scholarship, Don transferred as a junior to Penn State University. He played trombone in the Penn State marching “Blue Band” and majored in accounting. He graduated cum laude in 1950 and married Jeanne in September.

Don joined the General Electric Company in their Financial Management Program, GE’s version of an MBA. He worked in multiple financial positions in several of GE’s businesses in locations including Connecticut, New York, Indiana, Virginia, and Copenhagen, Denmark. For seven years until his retirement, Don served in Waukesha, WI as the Chief Financial Officer for GE’s Medical Systems Group, a world leader in medical digital diagnostic imaging equipment.

Don and Jeanne, an RN, raised five children, Pamela White (Tony Butto) of Selinsgrove, PA, Penelope Woodward (deceased, Greg), Patricia Sorenson (Dave) of Oconomowoc, WI, Thomas White (Peg) of Scotia, NY, and Todd White (Terrie) of Upton, MA. Don had 12 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

Music and swimming lessons, Thanksgivings with cousins, Christmases at home, and summer travel to the West Coast, the National Parks, Myrtle Beach, and Canada, often in a tent trailer that slept seven, kept the family close.

Following Jeanne’s death in 1978, Don married Marie Maher Wills of Watertown, WI in 1982. Together for 29 years, they maintained homes in Oconomowoc, WI and Naples, FL. Don’s five and Marie’s four children, Ellen Sitter (Paul), Rob Wills (Debbie), Dick Wills (Bonnie), Jack Wills (Marisa) and families enjoyed tri-annual summer reunions at their home on Lac LaBelle in Oconomowoc. After Marie’s death in 2012, Don had a 10-year marriage to Shirley Momberger Tippett Lehman White at Moorings Park.

Don was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Naples, FL, and he served at Moorings Park on the Residents Council Finance Committee. An avid bridge player, he was a student of the game all his adult life.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at Bower Chapel on the Moorings Park campus at 120 Moorings Park Drive, Naples, FL 34105. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Moorings Park Foundation scholarship fund at foundation.moorings park.org, or to a charity of choice.