Obituary of John C. White

John C. White, 74 of 1433 Glendale Road, Iowa City died peacefully in his sleep at his home on Saturday, March 22, 2008, after a long bout with cancer. Services will be held at 7pm Tuesday, March 25, 2008, at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City. Visitation will be from 4pm until services on Tuesday at the funeral home. Private family graveside services will be held at the Mentzer Cemetery rural Johnson County. Memorial donations can be made in John’s memory to the Kirkwood Foundation. Online condolences may be sent for his family through the web @ gayandciha.com. John Cletus White was born February 27, 1934, in Iowa City the son of Paul and Helen (Comfort) White. On November 14, 1952, he married Norma Jean Smith at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Iowa City. John graduated from Iowa City City High School in 1952 where he served as senior class president and was a Nile Kinnick Scholarship nominee. He earned his BA Degree from the University of Iowa in 1956 at which time he was commissioned a 2nd. Lt. in the U.S. Army. He served two years active duty at Ft. Benning, Georgia and Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, and completed his six-year military obligation in the U.S. Army Reserves. John attended graduate school at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colorado and earned his Master’s Degree in Counseling from The University of Iowa in 1963. In 1975, he earned his PhD Degree in Counseling and Human Development from The University of Iowa. He taught, counseled, and coached at Iowa City Central Junior High from 1959-1965, From 1965-1967 he was part of a team that developed the Pine Ridge Job Corps Center near Chadron, Nebraska and later the Lincoln Job Corps Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1967 he joined the staff at Kirkwood Community College, serving as Counselor, Director of Counseling and in 1981 Dean of Student Affairs. Retiring in 1993 from Kirkwood, he was later appointed by Governor Terry Branstad to the Iowa State Board of Education, completing a five-year term in April of 2002. John belonged to many organizations over his career including the American Counseling Association, Iowa Community College Student Services Association (charter member), Phi Delta Kappa, National Association of State Boards of Education and was past-president of the Iowa Association of Community College Student Services Deans and Directors. In addition to his passion for education and his love of his family, he loved all forms of athletics, rarely missing an Iowa Home Football game. John’s family includes his wife, Norma; daughter, Christine McPherren (Matthew) and their children, Eric and Dan McPherren, Ryan White (Deandra) and their children, Andre and Amerie of Iowa City; daughter, Laura Thompson (Larry) and their children, Joseph, Christopher, Janet and Daniel Thompson of Sault Ste. Marie, MI; son, John White (Becky Kessler) of Riverside; son, Kevin White (Barbara) and their children, Jesse, Lindsey, and Neil (Anna) of Iowa City; two sisters-in-law, Lorna and Isabelle Smith and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, sister, Mary Claire Palmer; brothers-in-law, Calvin, Judge, Charles, Kenneth Smith, and Leonard Hill; sisters-in-law, June Smith, Mary Smith, and Ila Hill.