William Allen Turner "Bill" White

1950 - 2015

Our beloved twin brother and uncle, Bill White, died peacefully on May 12, 2015 with his brother and friends at hand. Bill was born in Washington D.C. on March 17, 1950 to James Gordon White and Susan Turner White. The family moved to Arlington County, Virginia in 1952, where Bill consistently excelled in school graduating from Yorktown High School in 1968. He was captain of cross country and tennis teams his senior year, and also won the Knights of Columbus high school tennis sportsmanship award in his senior year. Bill attended and played tennis at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire graduating in 1972 with a degree in psychology. After graduation, Bill returned to Arlington, Virginia where he taught special education at his former high school, and took graduate courses at George Washington University. Several years later, Bill moved to Eugene, Oregon to attend the University of Oregon with its excellent special education programs. Bill received both a M.Ed. (1979) and a Ph.D. (1986) in special education from the University of Oregon and was a research assistant professor there for a number of years. Later, Bill worked with the Director Instruction Follow Through Project under the renowned University of Oregon Professor, Siegfried Englemann. Direct Instruction is a method of teaching young, disadvantaged and disabled learners which had been the subject of Bill's Ph.D. thesis. Bill's other passion was tennis and he coached for nearly forty years. He studied tennis and adopted innovative and unique coaching techniques. He was the head coach for fourteen different high school varsity teams, and was the assistant or JV coach for another seven teams. While still in college in 1971, Bill coached the boys and girls varsity teams at Woodstock Union High School in Woodstock, VT. In 1973, at his former Virginia High School, Bill coached the boys JV team to an undefeated season. Then, as head varsity coach from 1975 through 1977, his boys' teams won 103 straight matches in Northern Virginia and were 2nd in the state championships twice. He also coached the high school girls' team to a very successful season in 1976. During several summers in the 1970's, Bill was the head teaching professional at Brattleboro Outing Club in Brattleboro, VT. Bill spent most of the 1980s on his studies and teaching at the University of Oregon, but refocused on tennis in the 1990s. He coached the Thurston High School boys' team from 1992-93 and 2002-2008, and was selected as the Midwestern League's co-tennis coach of the year in 2003. He was an assistant coach for three PAC-12 Teams. And, he individually coached a number of players with outstanding collegiate and post-collegiate tennis careers. In the early 1990s, Bill was a captain and player for United States Tennis Association 5.0 teams in Eugene, Oregon. Bill also was an instructor for numerous youth and adult tennis programs in the Eugene area over many years. He was a sought after hitting partner in the tennis community. In the mid to late 1990s, Bill was the co-owner of a drive through coffee business in Eugene. Bill was compassionate and unselfish, kind and thoughtful to everyone and a loyal friend.

He is survived by his twin brother, James White and wife, MaryBeth and their children Gordon, Davis and Susannah of Medfield, MA and many friends.

A memorial service will be planned. Donations in Bills' memory can be made to a charity of your choice or to the Sacred Heart Medical Center Foundation, PO Box 10950, Eugene, OR 97440.