White, Neva Lois (1915-2010)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2010 Nov 29 p. 9

Birth date: 1915 Dec 14

text of obituary:

NEVA LOIS WHITE

Neva Lois White, 94, died Nov. 13, 2010, at Schowalter Villa in Hesston, Kan. She was born Dec. 14, 1915, to Elmer Jay and Sadie Byler White in Highland Township, Harvey County, the sixth in a family of 11 children.

She attended Harvey County Sunnyside School and graduated from Newton High School, Hesston College, Goshen (Ind.) College and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where she received a degree in library science.

She served as a librarian at Goshen College, St. Mary’s Hospital in Wausau, Wis., and Marquette University. She did relief work in Hong Kong after World War II through Mennonite Central Committee. In 1959, she went to Afghanistan as a library consultant for the State Department, USAID. During that time she traveled to more than 40 countries on visits or in connection with her work. She returned to the United States in 1966 to take a position at the Kansas State University library, where she served as head of cataloging until her retirement in 1983. She moved to Schowalter Villa in 2005.

She made a lifelong quest of learning and of assuring others the same privilege. She was known locally and in statewide literary circles for her writings about her life experiences and family history. She was also known for her open appreciation and loyalty to those who helped her along the way. She was a longtime member of the St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Manhattan.

Survivors include a brother, Dale White of Hesston; two sisters, Elsie White of Hesston and Erna Jantz of McPherson; 31 nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by seven siblings, Warren White, Gladys Zook, Allen White, Clement White, Mary Wenger, Calvin White and James White; a niece and two nephews.

Services were held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Newton. Burial was in Eastlawn Cemetery, rural Newton.