Helen WHITE

1919 - 2017

WHITE, Helen Conner March 12, 1919 to Aug. 13, 2017 Helen passed away peacefully in her home on Sunday, August 13th. She was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and attended Nursing School after graduating from High School. She then worked at the Naval Hospital as a civilian nurse until joining the U.S. Army in 1943. Serving in the European Theater, she was a field combat nurse in Patton's Army until after D-day and was reassigned to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. When the Korean War escalated, she was reassigned to Brook Army Hospital in San Antonio to care for wounded transported back from the war zone. While stationed there, she met a pilot, Thomas White. Coincidentally, he was one of the pilots that were transporting the wounded from Korea to Brook Army Hospital. They fell in love and were married for 64 years at the time of Thomas' passing in December, 2016. After Thomas and Helen were married, she transferred to the Ft. Lewis Hospital in Washington, while Thomas continued his flights to Korea from a nearby Air Base, taking fresh troops there and wounded back to Brook Army in San Antonio. She ended her military career in 1953 when she had her son, Michael. As a military wife, Helen moved many times and when Thomas retired they settled in his hometown of Austin in 1965. She worked as a nurse at the Texas School for the Deaf until retiring in 1983. Helen is a longtime member of Central Christian Church and is survived by her older sister Estelle Shipp of Portsmouth, Virginia, her son Michael, and daughter-in-law Rebeca. A visitation will be held at the Harrell Funeral Home, 4435 Frontier Trail, Austin, Texas 78745 on August 22, 2017 from 6 to 8pm . In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you give donations to Brookdale Hospice.Condolences may be sent to: www.harrellfuneralhomes.com.