James White

White, James, Charles July 23, 1924 - August 14, 2012 James Charles White had a long productive life. He cared about conversation, poetry, movies and the life of the mind. He loved the long train rides he took, carrying his portable typewriter along so he could quickly write down the anecdotes of the travelers he met along the way. He had a knack for getting ordinary people to tell him their extraordinary life stories. For all of his education and reading he never forgot his southern origins in Mesquite, Texas, and his rural life growing up on the farm. He went to Baylor University in Waco, Texas, for his undergraduate work, then joined the military and went overseas to Occupied Japan at the end of WWII. Upon his return, Jim used his GI Bill to attend graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, where he met the love of his life, Emily Wallenfels Gruen. Jim and Emily came from very different backgrounds. Jim was the son of a Texas farmer, she was from Vienna - the daughter of a diplomat, but they forged a fiery, deep, loving relationship. Nothing was more tender than their sharing of daily routines with one another over 58 years of marriage, 4 children and the rich life of friends, travel, and entertaining. Jim loved trains and train travel. He worked 36 years for various railroads. Starting with the Katy Line, and a few west coast lines, then ending with the Great Northern/Burlington Northern Railway. Jim also was a professor at MCAD for 20 years, teaching English, art history, and literature. He was passionate about teaching and was thrilled by a captive audience, always sharing his love of the written and spoken word with his students. The last months were not easy for Jim. After Emily passed away in 2011, he had the good fortune to receive his last year of care from his daughter Anita and her husband in their home. Despite an awareness of his advancing years and memory loss he continued to read the books he loved avidly. He also continued his astute and witty comments about life around him. Jim held onto his love of literature and poetry to the very end. We are all enriched with having had him be a part of our lives. "Every day Alzheimer's knocks on the door of the apartment in my head, and rings the bell to see if anyone is at home." Jim's quotes and anecdotes were peepholes into the world of thought and ideas and words where he wandered freely and happily. Maybe he's wandering there now, picking up the sacred feathers of thought birds and watching for occasions to slip one through to our world. James is survived by his children, Anita White (husband, Joshuwa Bialik), Wallace White, Raymond White (wife, Natasha Warner), Margaret Bossen (husband, Mark Bossen); and his grandchildren, Dana and Aaron Bossen, Willow, Olive and Felix White. Visitation Sunday, August 19, 2012 - 7 PM, Washburn-McReavy Nokomis Park Chapel, 1838 E. Minnehaha Pkwy, Minneapolis, MN 55407. Funeral Monday, August 20, 2012 - 2 PM, Lakewood Cemetery Chapel, 3600 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55408. www.Washburn-McReavy.com Nokomis Park Chapel 612-721-1651

Tributes

James White

August 17, 2012

Tributes

James White

August 17, 2012

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