White grew up on a farm in Red Oak, Georgia,
where he studied piano, guitar, and clarinet, and in high school was named the
Outstanding Clarinetist in the state. He was also a football player who was
recruited by Baylor School for Boys in his senior year, and went on to play
football at Auburn University and Georgia Tech. After enlisting in the Army
from 1954-1956, he attended The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY where
he received his Bachelor of Music degree with Distinction and Master of Music
degree with Performer’s Certificates in Voice and Opera. It is also where he met the love of his life and
future wife, Karen.
White was a member of the American Guild of
Musical Artists, Pi Kappa Lambda, and ODK, a life member of Phi Mu Alpha
Sinfonia, and a long-time member and President of Alabama NATS. He served as
Governor of Alabama National Opera Association and as Chairman of the AMTA
College Division in Voice. He also served First Presbyterian Church in
Tuscaloosa as a deacon, a choir member, and twice as interim choir director.
In his spare time, White was an avid golfer and
devoted student of the game. He loved reading about golf, watching golf on
television, and could even be found walking the tree-lined fairways with a
bucket, looking for lost balls. Golf was also an opportunity for him to gather
with friends, to enjoy being outside, and of course to teach his children and
friends what he had learned in the decades of practicing, studying, and playing
the game he loved.
