Former Gorman principal White dies

Thursday, Jan. 29, 1998 | 10:17 a.m.

The Rev. Larry White attended Bishop Gorman High School's 40th anniversary dinner on March 16, 1994, and amazed his longtime former students by remembering them by their names.

It had been 35 years since some of them had seen their old mentor, and their fresh freckled faces had given way to age lines and graying locks. Still, despite those physical changes, White recognized all of his ex-pupils.

"Not only did Father White remember their names, he showed them essays they had written in his classes," said the Rev. Caesar "Father C" Caviglia, a longtime local Catholic priest who now is retired and living in Ely.

"It was incredible that he actually had saved their work for all of those years. He loved the kids and had their respect and the respect of their families. But he was not a disciplinarian. He was very gentle -- his gentleness would drive you nuts."

Lawrence R. White, a Cleric of St. Viator who during a 50-year career as a Catholic priest served as a teacher and principal at Bishop Gorman and later counseled and consoled patients as an Arizona hospital chaplain, has died. He was 79.

White, a Las Vegas resident for 15 years and a Tucson, Ariz., resident for the past 24 years, died Friday of heart failure in Tucson.

"When I saw him last August (at a gathering of Viatorians) he told me he was not feeling well," said the Rev. Tom von Behren, president of Bishop Gorman. "Yet, he was encouraged because he saw so many young priests there who he said would carry on his work of teaching young people. That was his legacy."

Services for White were Wednesday at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Tucson. White's cremated remains will be taken to his birthplace -- Edina, Mo. -- to be interred in the family plot.

At Bishop Gorman, White taught history and religion. He served as a counselor, director of vocations and dean of boys before being promoted to principal of the private Catholic high school in 1969 -- a post he would hold for just two years.

"I would say his lack of the use of discipline was one reason why he did not serve longer in that capacity," Caviglia recalled. "He just did not fit that role."

von Behren also said White's role was more "transitional" than permanent, noting that White "carried us for a couple of years while we were looking for leadership.

"Father Larry was a friendly, warm person who went out of his way to help students with both their academic and personal problems."

Born Sept. 3, 1918, White was the youngest of nine children of Judge Thomas White and his wife, Catherine (nee Naughton) White.

At age 21, White entered the Clerics of St. Viator. He studied at St. Ambrose College and later earned a bachelor's degree at DePaul University. White then studied theology at St. Thomas Seminary in Denver and was ordained a priest on May 17, 1947.

As a Cleric of St. Viator, an order that devotes itself to teaching the young, White later earned master's degrees in history and education.

Prior to coming to Bishop Gorman in 1958, White taught at St. Philip High School in Chicago, Spalding Institute in Peoria, Ill., and St. Patrick High School in Kankakee, Ill.

In May 1972, on the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, White was honored with a Jubilee Mass at the Guardian Angel Shrine and a reception at the Desert Inn Country Club.

A short time later, White left his job as an education apostolate and moved to Tucson, where he served for many years as chaplain at St. Joseph's Hospital. Even as he faced his own mortality in recent years, White listened to the concerns of ailing hospital patients and helped them through their struggles with poor health.

In March 1994, White returned to Las Vegas where he and nine other Gorman principals were honored at the Knight of the Gael dinner at Palace Station hotel-casino.

White is survived by a brother, Harold White of Excelsior Springs, Mo., and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by four brothers and three sisters.

DONATIONS: In White's memory to the Clerics of St. Viator, 1212 E. Euclid, Arlington Heights, Ill., 60004.