Emmet White

Emmet T. White, a decorated WWII veteran and retired public utility executive in New Jersey, died of heart failure on August 7, 2016, at Maple Knoll Village in Cincinnati.  White was 95.

Emmet Talmadge White, born in New Jersey, to parents Emmet T. White and Jean Alford White, grew up in Hillside, married his childhood sweetheart, June Howlett, in 1943, raised four children in Union and Somerset Counties and summers in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. He was a long-time resident of Maple Knoll Village (Springdale, Ohio), after retirement from his career with Public Service Electric and Gas Company in Newark.

Drafted during World War II, White had four years of active Army service, three of them in Europe, attached to the 8th Infantry Division with the 445th Anti-Aircraft Battalion. He received a Bronze Star, five Battle Stars (including the Battle of the Bulge), a battlefield promotion to 1st Lieutenant. He came home in December 1945 and was honorably discharged as Captain in March 1946.

White’s 40 year career with PSEG followed his undergraduate education, on a football scholarship (winning the Archibald Johnston Award) at Lehigh University, earning a B.S. in 1942 in business, engineering. His career achievements included leadership in developing computerized customer billing and information systems for the electric utility, and achievement awards in industry associations. He retired in 1986.

White gained his MBA at New York University on the GI Bill. White and his wife, June, were most proud of the collegiate and professional accomplishment of each of their four children and seven grandchildren, with the same expectation for his 12 great-grandchildren in Hawaii, New Jersey, New York and Virginia. Wife June and children earned a collection of undergraduate and graduate degrees from St. Elizabeth’s College, Lafayette, William & Mary, Ursinus, Mary Washington, Washington and Lee, Lehigh. White identified himself as the loving and grateful father of Emmet (Betty Orr) White, Jr., formerly an attorney and currently a CCRC administrator in Honolulu; Nancy Howlett White Opalack, an educator based in Washington D.C. and national consultant on special education challenges; Pamela Janice (Susan Vogt) White, formerly in private law practice and currently a trial judge in Baltimore; Kevin Howlett White, a CPA, formerly a CFO, now CIO in the pharmaceutical industry in New Jersey.

In retirement, White moved to Maple Knoll Village (Ohio) in the late 1990’s. He and his wife embraced the community and MKV continued to embrace him after June’s death in March 2001. He treasured his independence while fully participating in residents’ activities--when he was not making his annual holiday visits to Honolulu, his summer visits to the Outer Banks (North Carolina), or his frequent car trips throughout the East Coast.  White was an invited, astute, and well-regarded voice in resident council conversations and communications with MKV leadership. Memorials are suggested to Maple Knoll Communities Future Care Fund.

White never missed crafting, printing, and mailing his unique birthday cards as a loving grandfather of Matthew Paul Opalack and Kate June Opalack (David) Watts; Benjamin Orr (Niaporn) White, Suzanne Orr White (Jeff) Schulberg and George Orr (Christina) White; Rachel June (James) Durkan and Kevin Gwynn White; and as loving great-grandfather of Luke Tobin Opalack and Sheridan White Meehan Opalack; Jackson David Watts and Josefine Howlett Watts; Nathan Kirati White and Ethan Khunnatham White; Charles Michael Schulberg, Samuel Emmet Schulberg and Georgia Orr Schulberg; Eleanor Atkinson White and Rilynn Elizabeth Milczarski; Caiden James Durkan.

Memorial Service will be held Wednesday, August 10, 2016 at 3:00 PM in the Maple Knoll Village Chapel.