White, Sally Jo Roeschley (1937-2006)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2006 Apr 24 p. 8

Birth date: 1937 Aug 30

text of obituary:

SALLY ROESCHLEY WHITE

Sally Jo Roeschley White, 68, of Chevy Chase, Md., died April 6, 2006, of lobular breast cancer at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. She was born Aug. 30, 1937, to Eli and Emma Roeschley in Graymont, Ill.

She was an active 35-year member of Hyattsville Mennonite Church, where she was the first woman elected to the position of congregational chair in 1976. She served as interim leader for the congregation when the church was without a pastor. She directed youth choirs, bell choirs and musicals, led worship services, preached and served on numerous congregational and conference committees.

She received a bachelor’s degree in music education from Goshen (Ind.) College and did graduate study in music and education at the University of Michigan and American University, Washington, D.C. After receiving her bachelor’s degree, she taught music in the public school systems of Roanoke, Ill., and Iowa City, Iowa. She served in Mennonite Voluntary Service in Iowa City in the early 1960s. She moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1964, where she helped start Ann Arbor Mennonite Church. She lived in Newton, Mass., from 1968-71, and then moved to Chevy Chase.

For more than 45 years she taught piano lessons in her home. She also hosted chamber concerts and recitals to encourage young musicians. She volunteered with numerous organizations, including For Love of Children Learning Center in Washington, D.C.; Montgomery County (Md.) Public Schools English for Speakers of Other Languages program; Rolling Ridge Study Retreat Center, Harper’s Ferry, W.Va.; and International Guest House, Washington, D.C.

Survivors include her husband, Donald E.; two daughters, Jane Hiebert-White and her husband, John, and Miriam de Decker and her husband, Guillaume, all of Chevy Chase; a sister, Myra Gunden of Goshen, Ind.; a brother, Burdell Roeschley of Flanagan, Ill.; and four grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by a sister, Wilma Roeschley of Goshen.

A memorial service will be held April 29 at Hyattsville Mennonite Church.