Virginia Louise White's Obituary
Louise White, a clinical social worker in the Fairfax, VA public school system for many years, and then the Sussex County, DE school systems, passed away in her sleep at her assisted living home in Dover, Delaware. She had dementia, and had been content and happily cared for there for the last two years of her life.
Louise was the proud mother of two daughters with her first husband Robert Burke, Debbie Blount and Michelle Walters. She is also survived by four grandchildren, Virginia and Mary Elizabeth Blount, and Robert and Kitty Walters. Her second husband, Bill Yoast, the football coach immortalized in the film “ Remember the Titans,” is also deceased. She was divorced from her third husband John Sykes, a Lewes, DE resident.
Louise was born in the coastal Morehead City, North Carolina to parents Etta “Mae” Deane White and William (Mike) Marshall White, the youngest of three beautiful sisters, Ellen Fitzgerald and Anne Lewis (deceased). She grew up from a young age in Alexandria, VA, where she lived for the majority of her life. She was a proud graduate of Hammond High School ‘61, a cheerleader and a part time model at the Lord & Taylor Birdcage tearoom, and Garfinkel’s department store, the preeminent fine goods store in Washington, DC. Louise had a fabulous sense of style, and while thrifty, her sartorial elegance included color, flair and stripes. She remained active with her Hammond high school reunion committee friends all her life.
Louise went on to study at Northern Virginia Community College, graduated from George Mason University and received her Masters degree in Social Work from Catholic University in 1982.
Louise was passionate about politics and voting rights and was a polling volunteer both in Virginia and Delaware most of her life. She was a keen traveler, and visited as many US state parks and monuments as she could, traveled internationally to Hong Kong to visit her daughter Debbie, and joined her St. Peter’s Lewes DE church choir on several trips to Vienna, Scotland, and other UK destinations.
She was a keen supporter of the arts, always seeking refined cultural experiences from Broadway shows to art exhibitions to opera. She loved films and regularly attended both documentaries and always the latest Robert Redford or Paul Newman production. She was a member of a book group and always had a book in her handbag or beach bag to read. She even had a short career in the Possum Point Players, a community theatre group in Delaware.
Louise adored her two rescue cats Karma and Maggie who lived to the ripe old age of nearly 19 years. She was a devoted animal lover, and also had a rescue border collie mix named Leo for many years.
May we suggest a donation to a rescue animal provider in Louise’s memory, or one to a mental health community, two of her passions.
Her family, community and friends will honor her memory with a musical concert at her beautiful and historic church in Lewes, St. Peters Episcopal later in the year.
Please sign the tribute wall located on this site.
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