NEWS

Throughout Anne White’s almost century-long life, certain values remained constant: her love of and devotion to family and community, her belief in the transcendent value of education, and her commitment to making our world a more just and more caring place for all people.

Born Margaret Anne Stelzenmuller, the fifth of seven children, on January 29, 1926, she lived in Birmingham, Alabama for the first 35 years of her life. A shy but precocious student, she graduated from high school at 16, entered the University of Alabama at age 17, majored in biology, and, in three years, graduated Phi Beta Kappa,. After leaving school (and abandoning her given first name), she worked as a lab assistant at the Southern Research Institute, where she met Locke White Jr., a chemist and the institute’s assistant director. The two were married in 1948, when she was 22 and he 29. After their fifth and final child was born in 1961, they moved to Davidson, where Anne spent the rest of her life.

In addition to raising her own children, Anne also devoted her time and energy to many philanthropic and social efforts, such as teaching for many years at the cooperative Children’s Schoolhouse, resettling Indochinese refugee families through Church World Service, and working with Habitat for Humanity. Anne was an idealistic Democrat, who actively campaigned against the U.S. war in Vietnam, and for McGovern’s and Obama’s presidential campaigns, and, in more recent years, for the establishment of a federal Department of Peace. She supported democracy, civic involvement, and voter registration and education, and she herself voted in every local, state, and national election once she reached the age of majority. She was an active member of the Davidson College Presbyterian Church, where she served as a deacon and an elder and sang in the choir.

Her husband Locke died suddenly in 1982, just a few years short of his retirement, and only a few months after their first two (of 10) grandchildren were born. Anne (dubbed “Mumsy” by her family) became an active grandmother, traveling across the country to visit those grandchildren, and taking them on Elderhostel adventures while she remained physically able.

Her active mind and insatiable curiosity led her to explore many far-flung interests, from foreign languages and cultures to amateur theatrics, from massage and body work to nutrition (she was a self-described health nut), psychology and child development, and personal and spiritual growth.

Anne is survived by children Steve (Elaine Rapp), Alan (Jane Nicholls), Diane (Jack Laveson, deceased 2022), Brian (Naomi Granoff), and Helen (Carl Levine); 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations to honor Anne be made to any of the following organizations:

• Planned Parenthood (Select "make this gift in honor or in memory of someone special")
• Habitat for Humanity (Check the box "Donate in honor of someone")
• Davidson College Presbyterian Church (Donations can be made online or mailed to P.O. Box 337, Davidson, NC 28036)
• The Locke White Family Scholarship Fund at Davidson College (Select "This gift is a tribute" and specify "The Locke White Family Scholarship Fund" in the comments or designation field)
• The Pines at Davidson Entry Assistance Fund