HISTORY OF AL WHITE, FRIEND AND CHURCH WORKER

ALVIN L. WHITE

I started to work in Grand Junction the first day of October 1968 and within a week or so was called to teach early morning seminary to the Juniors and Seniors of Grand Junction High School and Central High School. I was impressed particularly by one of the students in my class, Valerie White. She was so positive and enthusiastic and was a student leader at GJHS- Head Girl-a co-president of the student body. I soon discovered why-she had great parents who were enthusiastic and positive in their outlook-Al and Shelia White.

I learned that Shelia White was raised in the church in Emmett, Idaho and had met and married Al White while she was a nurse for the Navy during World War II and Al was just an enlisted man. Because enlisted men couldn’t date or marry officers, and Shelia was an officer, Shelia had to resign her commission in the Navy to marry Al. He was not a member of the church having been raised north of Denver, in Berthoud. Al would tell me stories about when he was stationed at a naval base in the state of Washington how Shelia would take food from the officer’s mess and smuggle it to Al because officers were served much better food than enlisted sailors. After the war, Al enrolled at the University of Colorado and played on the football team. He taught school and coached football in Sterling and Craig and then bought an ownership interest in Mt. Garfield Plumbing and Heating on Rood Avenue in Grand Junction from his uncle and operated that business for many years. I did some legal work for the business after I came to G. J. to practice law.

Originally, to keep peace in the family, all attended the Presbyterian Church in Grand Junction. When Bishop Sam Kelly called Shelia to be a primary teacher when Primary was held on a weekday after school, the two younger children, Rocky and Valerie, started to attend Primary and loved it. They were eventually baptized and after that , Al and Gaydra, the oldest daughter, attended the Presbyterian Church on Sundays and Shelia attended the LDS Church with Rocky and Valarie.

I learned that Al White had joined the church in April of 1967. I heard him speak as some meetings about his testimony. He was the new gung -ho convert that was on fire since joining the church. He was the example of what could happen to God’s children if we share the gospel and how their lives could be changed by activity in the church and a testimony by the Spirit. The Whites had three children, Gaydra who had been living in Europe with her husband Gary McCalister on duty in the Army, Rocky who was either on a mission or in college, and Valerie that I taught each day in seminary. Rocky had joined the church as a teenager and had baptized his father. When it came time for Rocky to be ordained an Elder, his father had already been ordained an Elder so he ordained Rocky to the office of Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood. Al White loved repeating this history in his life-baptized by his son and then ordained is son to be an Elder.

When the Grand Junction 5th Ward was created in 1973, Pres. Douglas Cleghorn chose Al White to be the first bishop of this new ward. It seemed an unlikely choice at first because Al White had only been a member for six years, but when Bishop White began to serve there was no doubt why he was called. We all realized that it doesn’t make any difference how long a man has belonged to the church, it is how he serves as bishop that is important. Bishop White was a great bishop because of at least three things:

First, Bishop White loved his members. Everyone knew that and felt his love. He wasn’t a gifted singer, but that didn’t stop him from calling every member of the ward on their birthday and singing Happy Birthday to them over the phone. People loved him, and he changed many lives. His love was evident to everyone. He was so excited to meet people that they felt Al’s love and concern for them .
Secondly, there was no one more enthusiastic about his calling. He was fun to be around because he was so positive. He knew with the Lord’s help that he could accomplish anything. That enthusiasm coupled with his great love made his ward an excellent place to attend and serve. He wanted to get things done now.

Third, Bishop White was a worker. He sold his business while he was bishop and became a fulltime bishop. I admired the amount of time he had available to serve and how he used his retirement time to serve the Lord. When I retired while serving as stake president, I found the great advantage of serving in a responsible position while retired.

A couple of experiences I remember from when he was bishop and I served in the stake presidency are recounted here. We were interrupted one evening at a stake presidency meeting by Bishop White. He had with him a couple from Vernal who were members of the church, had been married to each other but were now divorced and had with them a Colorado marriage license and wanted to be remarried by a Mormon Bishop. Bishop White knew that the handbook only allowed bishops to marry members of their own ward unless they had permission from the First Presidency. He didn’t want to send them to be married by a judge or a minister from another faith because they were Mormons and wanted to be married by a bishop. The church offices were closed in Salt Lake to get permission, and the couple wanted to be married that night. Pres. Cleghorn agreed that Bishop White should marry them now and he did after rounding up some witnesses. Pres. Cleghorn made the right call as an exception to policy because it was the right thing to do.

Bishop White had one young convert I will just call ”Joe” who had many mental problems and took a lot of Bishop White’s time. The biggest problem was that Joe would call up Bishop White to advise the bishop he was going to commit suicide. Bishop White would have to drop everything and find Joe and talk him out of his intended action-this often would take a couple of hours. This happened often and took a lot of Bishop White’s time and was emotionally draining. He sent Joe for counseling with LDS Social Services to get some help. The counselor told Bishop White to just agree with Joe and not try to talk him out of suicide. Bishop White told me how tough it was the next time Joe called to follow the advice of the counselor by saying:”Okay Joe, where will we find your body? What do you want me to tell your mother? What do you want for your funeral?“etc. By using this approach, Joe would decide on his own not to commit suicide with only about 15 minutes of Bishop White’s time. Joe never did commit suicide and is alive today although he still suffers from depression.

Harold Davis shared with me an experience he had while a youth with Al White that made him feel special. Harold was one of the few youth in the ward that attended Fruita Monument High School-most of the youth attended Grand Junction High School. Harold played football for FMHS. After the high big rivalry game at Stocker Stadium with GJHS which GJHS won, Al White made a point to seek out Harold Davis and congratulate him on playing a good game. Harold never forgot this act of concern and kindness to him when he felt important that Al White was watching him play football.

Bishop White was one of the bishops that in August of 1977 voted unanimously to purchase the land at Ragged Mountain. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Ragged Mountain. We shared that special experience of how President Cleghorn approached the purchase of Ragged Mountain and how united as a stake we were and excited that the purchase of that property was the right thing to do while it was available even though it was out of priority because we needed chapels built.

President Cleghorn was released in about 1982 and President Andrew Christensen was sustained as president. I was selected by President Christensen as his first counselor and Al White as the second counselor. When the Grand Junction West Stake was created, we were the first stake presidency in the new stake. It was a real pleasure to serve with Pres. White. I witnessed that same enthusiasm to work in the kingdom and his dedication to do anything he was asked. I had served with Pres. Cleghorn where we started at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and continued until the work was completed, which may be late afternoon or even that night. This schedule continued under Pres. Christensen. We kidded Pres. White who started to bring a lunch once he found out we went all day without stopping to eat.

President Christensen would fly us to the temple in Manti or to out- of- town church meetings in his plane and it was fun to travel with Pres. White. President Christensen was killed when his plane crashed just before the dedication of the Denver Temple. President White, who was made the first counselor when I was made bishop, gave the opening prayer at the Denver Temple Dedication in place of President Christensen and represented our stake. He guided the stake through that difficult time after President Christensen’s death until Pres. Murri was sustained as president. Al and Shelia were called as temple workers for the Denver Temple, and later Al became the first man in our stake to be called as a Sealer.

One day when there was a break in our stake presidency duties, I asked Pres . White for his story on how things transpired that he joined the church. He related to me that Shelia had back surgery and complications developed wherein her spinal fluid was leaking out of the suture holes. Dr. Hall, the orthopedic surgeon, talked to Al and told him that if the leaking didn’t stop, Shelia would die. Dr. Hall was going to operate again to see if he could repair the problem but was concerned about how he could repair a suture hole by making more suture holes. Al talked with Shelia about her serious medical condition and Shelia asked that Al call her brother Mark, who was a bishop ,and have the family fast for her the day the surgery was to be performed. Al called Mark and related Shelia’s request that the family join in a fast for her. Mark asked Al if he was going to fast with the family, but Al responded that he was not a member of the LDS faith and wouldn’t join the fast-it wasn’t his religion. Mark responded that if Al was not willing to fast and pray that his own wife’s life would be spared, he wasn’t willing to call the family to join in a fast. Al couldn’t go back to Shelia and tell her there was no fast because Al wouldn’t join that fast, so he had no alternative but to agree with Mark that he would join in the prayers and the fasting for his wife. Al did that and reported to me that for the first time in his life he felt the Spirit of the Lord. He had lived his whole life without the knowledge that there was a Holy Ghost that can comfort, direct, warn and answer prayer. It was that newly discovered knowledge about the Holy Ghost that caused him to investigate the church and eventually join.

Al White was a living example of repentance and conversion. Bishop Gary McCalister, who married Al’s and Shelia’s oldest daughter Gaydra, told me that when he left for Germany for his army service, Al’s last advise to him was to never join the Mormon Church. When Bishop McCalister returned two years later, Al was a member and a completely different man. He was completely changed by his conversion. I asked him if the stories were true that he refused to stop smoking in the family car on trips even though he was making family members sick and did he really go to his basement when the home teachers visited and blow cigar smoke into the vents so the smoke would move upstairs and bother the home teachers. I know these things happened because his family confirmed these events, but Al White repentance was so complete that he remembered his sins no more. He responded that he had been told he did these things but he didn’t believe he did because he couldn’t remember it.

Al and Shelia served a mission in Vermont and their love and dedication had a major impact on the small branch where they served. Shelia died in 2000 and Al sold his home and rotates his residence among his three children. When Bishop Doug Rock was sustained as bishop of the 5th Ward in May of 2009, I invited all six former bishops of the ward to sit on the stand and be recognized. Al was so proud to be recognized as the first bishop of the ward and be joined by Wilford Moses, Dennis Ficklin, Hugh Mortensen, Brad Swenson and Tim Sherman. Many of his family came for the meeting. Roy Grossman was also recognized for serving as ward clerk to every single bishop in the ward.

Al White was been my friend for 40 years, and I have felt his love during that period of time. He has always been an example to me and I love him. He is proof of the parable of the laborers-it doesn’t make any difference when we start, it’s how we work that counts. The reward is still the same.

Kelly Summers 6-4-09

CLARISSSA TURNS AGE 70

CLARISSA TURNS AGE 70

JUNE 8, 2009

Today, Clarissa turned age 70. We celebrated her birthday according to her wishes-a dinner at the Vinery Restaurant in downtown Grand Junction, her favorite eating place. We have been going there for over 30 years. She invited Tom and Joanne Mingus and Dean and Mary White as our guests. She didn’t want a big party but a private celebration with good friends.

It was a good occasion. Clarissa was very happy and satisfied that she had reach age 70. She said she was ready to live another 15 years. The last year has been a good year for her since she has now lost 70 pounds. It has made her a new woman. She has a lot more energy and she doesn’t hurt so much. She is doing a lot more activities. Her health is better both physically and mentally. She is proud for what she has accomplished.

We sat at opposite ends of the table with the Mingus couple on one side and the White couple on the other. As I looked at her, Clarissa just shined. She was so beautiful and pretty. I realized how gorgeous she was and how lucky and fortunate I was to have her as my wife and eternal companion. I recognized a long time ago that I am able to function as a stake president only because of her. She is so supportive of my calling and makes it possible for me to serve. Regardless of how she feels, she is always available to support me and accomplish the duties of a stake president’s wife. I am even dependent on her for transportation out of town. There is nothing she will not do for her kids.

When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease I had my counselors and staff gives me a blessing about my calling. Pres. Dean didn’t promise me I would complete a normal nine year term but told me I should listen to my wife and get her advice about my health. She takes good care of me and watches over me. I know my dependency of her will increase. I am grateful to God for her.