Harold White

On October 11, our father, Harold Chester White celebrated his 94th birthday. On January 1, 2022, he finished his race on this planet. After a brief illness, he was embraced into his rest, surrounded by family members as his daughter sang one of his favorite songs, 'The Goodness of God' ('All My Life You Have Been Faithful'). It was his overarching testimony. From the years he and his adored wife, Carlene, pastored First Assembly of God in Fort Myers, Florida, to the years of planting the church in Homestead, Florida, to the 11 precious years of serving the congregation at Temple Assembly in Clanton, Alabama, to the years of going back to school to get his Master of Divinity and working to minister to the students at Evangel College, he consistently declared 'God has been faithful!' His precious wife, son Mark White and wife, Glenda (Greenville, SC), daughters Pamela Garland and husband, Tony (Gainesville, GA) and Debra Hogg and husband, Tim (Covington, GA, with whom the Whites have lived the last year), 13 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren feel the ache of his absence profoundly, but are ecstatic that he is Home and can now see again after so many years of blindness brought on by Macular Degeneration. As a child of the Great Depression and Second World War, he learned resilience and creativity. He could 'fix' anything. He could build anything, and in fact, built or improved every church plant where he pastored. He developed an ethic of hard work, beginning at home tending the family garden with his younger brother, Nelson (Tuscaloosa, AL) while his father worked, and was later drafted and stationed in California during the war. He often said he was his mother's 'helper', in those years his dad was gone, with the younger siblings, Merle and Clark (preceded him into heaven) and Ethel Brown (Lakeland, FL). He had a paper route during his teen years, in which he rode his bicycle 17 miles every day in his Ohio community, no matter the temperature or the weather. He was a notorious Tease. The ladies at his church soon learned that if they left their purses sitting open and unattended on the seat, they would very likely find a 'gift' from Papa when they got home. All of his grandchildren were amazed by his ability to 'pull off his thumb', and were, more often than not, when he was teasing them, heard to say 'Papa, Stop it.' (We wondered if we should adjust his grandparent moniker to 'Papa-Stopit'). But, he was great fun, and every family member has such fond memories of camping trips and family gatherings with him. His was a life of service, of incomprehensible compassion, big generosity, and a fiery loyalty to the people he loved. The last few 'post-retirement years' became about him contending for his children and grandchildren. With his loss of vision and weakening physical strength, he was left with little more he could do other than pray. But, he did that faithfully and fervently every day. Thanks, Papa! You loved us well! See you soon! Funeral services will be held Saturday, January 8, 2022 at 2 p.m. at The Fathers House; interment will follow at Green Meadow Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends from 1 until 2 p.m. prior to the service at The Fathers House. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to a project dear to Reverend White’s heart https://www.africaoasis.org/aop. Condolences may be submitted on-line at www.scotward.com. Scot Ward Funeral Services, 699 American Legion Rd., Conyers, GA, 770-483-7216.

Harold White

October 11, 1927 - January 1, 2022