Barbara Jean White

Barbara Jean White passed away on October 25, 2022, at age 97. She was born August 6, 1925, to Russel and Marguerite (Stephenson) Totten, on a farm in Essex, Ontario, Canada, the eldest of three, with a younger brother Jim and sister Kathy. After high school, Barbara studied engineering, first at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, then at Detroit Institute of Technology in Detroit, where she earned her degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1947. While at DIT, she met a tall, handsome fellow just back from the war and studying for a career in law. He charmed her into marriage, and Barbara wed Bruce White in 1948 and moved to the U.S. as a permanent resident, though she remained a proud Canadian. Barbara went to work with her father Russ at Trane Company in Windsor, designing industrial heating and air conditioning systems. Though she stopped working when they started their family, Barbara would later use her skills – and her slide rule – to design heating and cooling systems for her church in Rochester in 1963, and later, the house she and Bruce built on Old Mission peninsula. Their early years together were rather lean, and Bruce’s career took them through several moves. For 15 years, Bruce was on the road selling law books, home only on weekends. Through those years and with each move Barbara put down roots, raised their children, and made each house a home. In 1975, they finally settled in Traverse City and embraced Up North life. They golfed and they cross-country skied. And Bruce wanted to sail on the beautiful bay, so, after a course at Annapolis, and with Barbara as first mate, the two spent many summers sailing locally and around Lake Michigan on their boat “White Caps.” Barbara was a lifelong bridge player, an aspiring photographer, a relatively able techie, and a bit of an Anglophile, with a small collection of British commemoratives. She loved history and antiques, and in 1976 she joined the Traverse City chapter of Questers as a founding member. Through Questers, she was involved in projects to help preserve and restore the Traverse City Opera House and the Daugherty House on Old Mission peninsula. Throughout her life, Barbara remained independent, interested, and relentlessly social. She volunteered wherever she could, as a den mother or skating mom (best ever), or to photograph an event or make birthday cards on her home computer. She loved to travel and see new places – overseas with Bruce or a church group, later trips to see family with her adult children, or on a treasured trip to French Polynesia with her sister Kathy. Barbara’s faith was a big part of her life, and she was a devoted member of the Presbyterian church. She was deeply honored to be elected and called to serve as an elder by her congregation in Rochester, and she remained active in service and fellowship after moving to Traverse City. Barbara’s faith in God gave her the quiet strength to meet her own life’s challenges and the generosity to offer that strength in comfort to others. Barbara is survived by her children Greg (Terrie) White of Auburn Hills, Mark (Mary) White of Kingsley, Susan (Boyd) Richards of Grawn, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Bruce White, her daughter Jody White, every relative of her generation, and the Queen of England. She was proud and happy to celebrate her 97th birthday recently with family, and she was fully and firmly ready to charge forth to 100. Alas, her body was not willing. A memorial service for Barbara will be held Friday, November 18, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. at the Presbyterian Church, 701 Westminster, Traverse City, MI 49884, with visitation one hour prior. Memorial donations may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 29777 Telegraph Road, Suite 1651 Southfield, MI 48034; or online at: https://www.nationalmssociety.org/Donate

Barbara Jean White

August 6, 1925 - October 25, 2022