Obituary of Katherine Wilson White

Katherine (Kay) Wilson White, 91, died April 27, 2012 in Chapel Hill, NC. She was born August 29, 1920 in Buffalo, NY, the daughter of the late Katherine Whalen Wilson and Irving White Wilson. She grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and attended Ellis School there. She graduated from Wells College in Aurora, NY, receiving a B.A. in 1942 with a major in French. In dancing school in the early 1930s she met Edward (Ted) Pritchard White, the love of her life. They married on June 27, 1942, and lived happily ever after. Most of her life was spent in Pittsburgh, where she was active in the Junior League. In 1979 she moved with Ted to Chapel Hill. There she was active in the Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO). Throughout her life she spent many summers in upstate New York in the village of Barneveld. She and Ted moved to Carolina Meadows retirement community in 1995. Her greatest interest was her family, raising and educating four children. She passed on her love of reading and her love of travel to all of them. Her fondness for knitting leaves a legacy of warmth. The great struggle of her life came at the end as she showed how to deal with Alzheimer's Disease with grace and good humor. She is survived by her husband, Ted, who took care of her until the end. She is survived also by four children: William I. White and wife Evelyn of Elkhart, IN, Katherine W. McCullough and husband Robert of Atlanta, GA, Timothy E. White and wife Kathryn of Acton, MA, David F. White and wife Lauren of Beverly, MA; nine grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren. She is survived by one sister, Anne W. Baker of Lake Wales, FL and one brother-in-law, Donald F. White of Barneveld, NY. She was predeceased by one sister, Margaret W. Ryan. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on May 26 at Carolina Meadows. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Wells College.