Anne Marie White
July 23, 1934 — December 16, 2017
Anna Marie White was born July 23, 1934 in Runnells, the daughter of Joseph and Bessie West.
She grew up fishing, farming and working in the saw mill with her dad. She also loved hunting morel mushrooms. She graduated from Runnells High School in 1952 and married Jimmie Dean White on Sept. 24, 1954. They lived on the river bottom near Runnells, then moved to higher ground in Pleasantville in 1965.
Anna took classes in Omaha to learn key punching and eventually worked at Ruan Transport in Des Moines. She was also employed by 10X in Pleasantville and Marion County Clerk of Court Office in Knoxville. She and her sons handled a rural Sunday newspaper route for eight years; that is where she taught the boys how to drive. Her last job was driving students from Knoxville Community Schools to Ruby Van Meter in Des Moines.
She enjoyed spending time with family, going to family gatherings and reunions, knitting, crocheting, quilting, cooking, gardening, square dancing, doing puzzles and fishing. She was a 50-year member of the Order of the Eastern Star of Runnells and Pleasantville. She learned to ride a bike in her 40s and rode on the Second Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa in 1974. She loved travelling to Arkansas to see her sister, Roberta Rose, and her family in Arkansas.
As she learned to cook at an early age on a wood-burning stove, her sons remember waking up to her making dough for noodles and pies before fixing breakfast for her family. She would clear the table for sewing, using Simplicity patterns to create blouses and dresses for herself, would make and mend shirts for her husband and sons; then she would clear the table to make dinner. One of her favorite meals was liver and onions, though her sons fondly remember her fried chicken, spinach quiche and scrambled eggs. She taught Sunday School for years and was a Cub Scout den leader. She enjoyed playing cards, either Pitch with friends or Solitaire. She always checked on her family, friends and neighbors. More recently, she enjoyed going out to eat all-you-can-eat fish dinner with a side of sliced tomatoes and custard pie at Village Inn with her son, Raymond; going to movies and eating popcorn at Cinemark in Altoona and Valle Drive In in Newton with her son, Raymond; attending St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Indianola frequently with her son, Randy; and following the photographs taken by her son, Rodney. Her infectious laugh, happy-to-see-you smile, genuine concern for others and comforting hugs will be missed.
Family left to cherish her memory include her sons: Randy White and Raymond White of Pleasantville, and Rodney White (Tina) of West Des Moines; grandchildren: R.J. White (Alicea) of St. Paul, Minn., Mason White and Samuel White of Pleasantville, Rebecca White of West Des Moines, and Rose White of West Des Moines; and great grandchildren: Caspian Meaders and Ari White of St. Paul, Minn. Other relatives include her siblings: Margaret Rhoten (John) of Beach Haven, N.J., Joe West (Deb) of Chicago Heights, Ill., and Roberta Rose (Argene) of Hardy, Ark. She was preceded in death by her husband Jimmie White, sister Roberta Rose, parents Joseph and Bessie West, and sister Glenadine West.
Anna White, 83, died unexpectedly at home Saturday, December 16, 2017. She has been cremated, as she requested. Burial of her cremains, together with those of her husband Jimmie, will be in late spring 2018 at Lowman Cemetery in Runnells.
She grew up fishing, farming and working in the saw mill with her dad. She also loved hunting morel mushrooms. She graduated from Runnells High School in 1952 and married Jimmie Dean White on Sept. 24, 1954. They lived on the river bottom near Runnells, then moved to higher ground in Pleasantville in 1965.
Anna took classes in Omaha to learn key punching and eventually worked at Ruan Transport in Des Moines. She was also employed by 10X in Pleasantville and Marion County Clerk of Court Office in Knoxville. She and her sons handled a rural Sunday newspaper route for eight years; that is where she taught the boys how to drive. Her last job was driving students from Knoxville Community Schools to Ruby Van Meter in Des Moines.
She enjoyed spending time with family, going to family gatherings and reunions, knitting, crocheting, quilting, cooking, gardening, square dancing, doing puzzles and fishing. She was a 50-year member of the Order of the Eastern Star of Runnells and Pleasantville. She learned to ride a bike in her 40s and rode on the Second Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa in 1974. She loved travelling to Arkansas to see her sister, Roberta Rose, and her family in Arkansas.
As she learned to cook at an early age on a wood-burning stove, her sons remember waking up to her making dough for noodles and pies before fixing breakfast for her family. She would clear the table for sewing, using Simplicity patterns to create blouses and dresses for herself, would make and mend shirts for her husband and sons; then she would clear the table to make dinner. One of her favorite meals was liver and onions, though her sons fondly remember her fried chicken, spinach quiche and scrambled eggs. She taught Sunday School for years and was a Cub Scout den leader. She enjoyed playing cards, either Pitch with friends or Solitaire. She always checked on her family, friends and neighbors. More recently, she enjoyed going out to eat all-you-can-eat fish dinner with a side of sliced tomatoes and custard pie at Village Inn with her son, Raymond; going to movies and eating popcorn at Cinemark in Altoona and Valle Drive In in Newton with her son, Raymond; attending St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Indianola frequently with her son, Randy; and following the photographs taken by her son, Rodney. Her infectious laugh, happy-to-see-you smile, genuine concern for others and comforting hugs will be missed.
Family left to cherish her memory include her sons: Randy White and Raymond White of Pleasantville, and Rodney White (Tina) of West Des Moines; grandchildren: R.J. White (Alicea) of St. Paul, Minn., Mason White and Samuel White of Pleasantville, Rebecca White of West Des Moines, and Rose White of West Des Moines; and great grandchildren: Caspian Meaders and Ari White of St. Paul, Minn. Other relatives include her siblings: Margaret Rhoten (John) of Beach Haven, N.J., Joe West (Deb) of Chicago Heights, Ill., and Roberta Rose (Argene) of Hardy, Ark. She was preceded in death by her husband Jimmie White, sister Roberta Rose, parents Joseph and Bessie West, and sister Glenadine West.
Anna White, 83, died unexpectedly at home Saturday, December 16, 2017. She has been cremated, as she requested. Burial of her cremains, together with those of her husband Jimmie, will be in late spring 2018 at Lowman Cemetery in Runnells.
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