Benjamin White

Benjamin L. White NORFOLK - Lt. Col. Benjamin Lewis White, U.S. Air Force retired, died Oct. 4, 2010 at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital after a short illness. He was 88. Lt. Col. White served in the U.S. Air Force from 1942 in World War II until after the Vietnam War in 1978. He received the Air Medal of Meriterious Achievement for his dedication, innovation and dynamic leadership from rescue missions in the Pacific to his service in the Tactical Airforce and Intelligence Departments. Stations of duty include Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas; Offutt AFB, Nebraska; Combat Intelligence at Torrejon AB, Spain; Electronic Warfare/Recon Division, the Pentagon and ending his pragmatic career at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. He was an active member of the 55th SRW Wing Association, The Old Crows. Benjamin Lewis White was born Dec. 31, 1921 in Alliance, N.C., to the late George Blackwell White and Lucie Latham White. The White family relocated to Norfolk when Benjamin was 11 years old. He graduated from Maury High School in 1940 and continued his education at a division of William and Mary (now Old Dominion University). He finalized his preliminary college education at Tulane University in Louisiana in 1950 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. His love of education continued throughout his military career with a degree in public administration from Golden Gate University in California and eventual post graduate license to teach journalism, history and government in Virginia. He was an ROTC instructor at Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake and a volunteer/docent at The Mariners' Museum in Newport News. Lt. Col. White is preceded by his son, Ben White Jr., who passed in 2005; and also his brother, James Ellis White Sr. and his nephew James E. White Jr. He is survived by his wife, Betty Ann Keating White; Lt. Col. White's children, Beverly White Mefferd and husband Stephen Mefferd of Falls Church, Va., and Wesley White and his wife Gamay White of Fredericksburg, Va., from his first marriage to their mother Jean Halstead; his stepchildren, children of Betty White, Karen Keating Lincoln, Richard G. Keating Jr. and Kimberly Keating Nye and her husband John Nye; his immediate grandchildren, Andrew and Peter Mefferd, Jeb Kimble, Julia White, Ben White III and Lewis White; also, his stepchildren, Charles, Robert and Carroll Lee Oldfield by his second marriage to Carroll Oldfield. Lt. Col. White will also be remembered by his stepgrandchildren, great- grandchild, three nephews, Thomas F. White Sr., Michael Allen White, Joseph Page and their mother Nancy White Goolsby and close friends. A memorial service will be conducted at 1 p.m. Saturday Oct. 30, at Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home, Tidewater Drive Chapel. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.hollomon-brown.com.