Doris White, 1923 – 2019
Doris May Chinery White, 95, died January 5, 2019, in Rocky Face, Georgia. Doris was the youngest of two daughters born to Daniel Henry and Dora May Decker Chinery on June 3, 1923, on Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. Around the age of three years, Doris lost her mother to influenza. Raised by their father, with the help of nearby maternal aunts, Doris and her sister, Constance Henrietta (“Connie”), enjoyed a happy, comfortable childhood in their home on Rainbow Avenue.
In 1942 Doris graduated from Port Richmond High School, just months after her beloved father died of a stroke. She and her sister were required by circumstances to support themselves, though Doris still managed to take some courses at Seton Hall College. During World War II, Doris worked in the Empire State Building for the Electric Boat Company, which produced PT boats for the Navy. After a time, Doris’ older sister Connie pursued a career overseas, working for an electric company, Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company. Connie never married and died in 1973 in New York City.
Following WW II, Doris was introduced to William C. White by her friend and his younger sister, Catherine (“Kitty”). A graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and a returning Army officer who had served in England for five years, Bill White was the son of a New York City physician who practiced medicine from an office in his brownstone home in the Irish neighborhood of “Hell’s Kitchen” near Times Square. Bill and his sister Kitty were among the youngest of ten siblings; their oldest sister, Bessie, was a nun in the order of the Cenacle Sisters.
On June 14, 1947, Doris and Bill were married in Manhattan, New York City, and they enjoyed over 50 years of marriage, until Bill died on August 28, 1997, in Thomaston, Georgia. In their early married life, they lived in Manhattan and also in Danbury, Connecticut, and in Freeport, New York, on Long Island, as Bill pursued a business career. In 1955, they moved briefly to Jacksonville, Florida, and then on to Atlanta, Georgia, where they lived in the Chamblee and Dunwoody areas.
In 1964, Doris and Bill moved their family to Yatesville, Georgia, seventy miles south of Atlanta, in Upson County (west of Macon). There, Bill began an almost 20-year career with the Federal Paper Board Company in the county seat of Thomaston; he also served a term on the Yatesville City Council. As her children grew older, Doris worked in a clerical capacity at the Marist School in Atlanta, Upson Regional Hospital in Thomaston, and Shallowford Hospital in Atlanta.
Doris was the mother of 7 children: Frances Mary (deceased as a newly born infant), Daniel C. (Sarah Wynn), Mary A., William C. Jr. (Penny), Paul J. (Sue), Theodore M., and John F. (Carolyn). Also known as “Gram” (while her husband was known as “Pop”), Doris delighted in her role as grandmother to eleven grandchildren: Leslie Carter, Chas White, Katie White, Kelie White, Kimberly Mann, Kristin White, Erin White, Garrett Mann, Gina White, Jeff Mann, and Henry White. Doris is also survived by nine great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Bill and Doris White Scholarship at Gordon State College (www.gordonstate.edu/fndscholarships and www.gordonstate.edu/alumni/give-to-gordon.html). As the parents of six children who were educated in the Upson County, Georgia, Public School System, Bill and Doris White developed a deep respect for the rural teachers and administrators who made the education of their children such a rich and rewarding experience. Realizing the importance for all students to continue onto higher education and realizing that many rural students are economically challenged and that not all students reach their full academic potential in high school, it is the intention of the Bill and Doris White Scholarship to provide financial assistance and recognition to students who might not otherwise receive it.
Donations may be made on-line or mailed to Gordon State College Foundation at: GSC Foundation, 419 College Drive, Barnesville, GA 30204. Donation checks may be made out to the Gordon State College Foundation. “In memory of Doris White” may be written on the FOR line of the check or a note may be enclosed with the donation indicating the intended scholarship.
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