Jocelyn Newell White

1933 - 2023

Jocelyn Newell White passed away at the age of 89 on April 7, 2023, at Friends Fellowship Community in Richmond, Indiana. Jocelyn was born on May 24, 1933, in Baltimore, Maryland, to H. Whitman Newell and Pauline C. Newell.

Jocelyn's early years were shaped by her parents' engagement with outdoor activities, including hiking and birdwatching, by a treasured year spent living on Cape Cod near the ocean, and by her involvement in Scouting and participation in summer camps.

She graduated from Baltimore Friends (Quaker) School in 1951. The Baltimore Friends School girls basketball team had an undefeated season her senior year when she served as captain, and 54 years later, in 2005, the team was inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame, which provided an opportunity for her to relive old memories and share them with family.

Jocelyn came to Richmond, Indiana, in 1951 to attend Earlham College, where she enjoyed science classes and decided to go into nursing. At Earlham, she also met Edwin White. After two years at Earlham, she undertook to earn her R.N. at the IU School of Nursing in Indianapolis.

Jocelyn and Edwin were married on Aug. 14, 1955, at Stony Run Friends Meeting in Baltimore, under the care of West Richmond Friends Meeting. After Jocelyn completed her nurse's training, the couple moved to Richmond, Indiana, where they were – and continue to be – members of West Richmond Friends Meeting. Jocelyn's attention turned to raising a family of four children, seeing to it that they had opportunities to experience camping and other outdoor activities, as well as to notice and appreciate the natural world, and, in particular, the birds she loved so well.

In 1965, the family moved to Kaimosi Friends Mission in Kenya, where Edwin served as financial advisor to East Africa Yearly Meeting, and Jocelyn provided support to the mission hospital, for a time serving as hospital matron. Upon the family's return to the U.S. in 1969, they moved to La Porte, Indiana, where they attended the La Porte Church of the Brethren for many years. Jocelyn began working as a nurse at La Porte Hospital. For 23 years she worked the night shift in the newborn nursery. She also helped to develop and teach Lamaze childbirth classes, guiding many young families through the challenges of preparing for childbirth and parenting, and then often being present in the hospital when her students' babies were born.

Jocelyn and Edwin moved to Friends Fellowship Community in Richmond, Indiana, in 2009. Jocelyn enjoyed reconnecting with the West Richmond Friends Meeting community and the many opportunities to make new friends and join in activities at Friends Fellowship. Her family is grateful for the care she received there during the last years of her life.

Jocelyn's nature was to be attentive to the needs of others and to find ways to lend a helping hand to those around her – her mother, her in-laws, her sister, her children and their spouses, co-workers, elderly or disabled friends, and, in time, her beloved grandchildren. She was thoughtful and creative, joyful and fun-loving, always sweet and kind, and grounded by a faith in God, a sense of the presence of the Divine while contemplating the beauty and wonder of the natural world, and a belief in the possibility of goodness in everyone. She will be remembered by many for her delightful sense of humor.

She was a collector of birds, angels, seashells, fossils, postcards and stamps; but primarily a collector of joy, memories and inspiration. She felt blessed by the opportunities life had given her.

Jocelyn was preceded in death by her parents, H. Whitman Newell and Pauline C. Newell; her sister, Marcia Newell; and son-in-law, Brett Price.

She is survived by her husband, Edwin White of Richmond, Indiana; daughters, Sarah (Noel) Pavlovic of Chesterton, Indiana, and Mary Price of Bennett, Colorado; sons, Andrew (Diane) White of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and David (Debera) White of Jackson, Tennessee; grandchildren, Benjamin White of Austin, Texas, Matthew (Nina) White of Broad Run, Virginia, Janna (Edward) Johnson of Austin, Texas, Nathan (Emma Quilligan) Pavlovic of Washington, D.C., Colby (Sophia) Youngren of Great Falls, Montana, Emily (Sean Smith) Pavlovic of Duluth, Minnesota, and Mallory Price of Denver, Colorado; and five great-grandchildren.

A small memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 27, 2023, in the Community Room of Friends Fellowship Community, 2030 Chester Boulevard, Richmond, Indiana.

Anyone who wishes to make a contribution in memory of Jocelyn may consider a donation to Friends Fellowship Community or to West Richmond Friends Meeting, both of Richmond, Indiana.