Walter White

Walter L. White 88, died at 9:30 p.m., Nov. 10, 2007, at The Wyngate Senior Living Community. He was born July 6, 1919, in Lima to William H. and Chloe Knepper White, who preceded him in death. He married Helen W. Hart, who preceded him in death after 55 years of marriage. In 1997, he married Virginia E. Fisher, who survives. Mr. White was a graduate of Lima Central High School. He earned a bachelor?s degree and a law degree from Ohio Northern University, which also bestowed him with an honorary Juris Doctorate degree. He received a bachelor?s degree in divinity from Oberlin and also attended Northwestern University. He was a lifelong believer in the value of education. He practiced law for 50 years and was the senior partner of the firm of White, White and White, where he practiced law with his children, William H. White and Patricia White King. He was a 50-year member of the Ohio State Bar Association and the local Bar Association, where he served as its president. He also had a long career in public service, beginning as an assistant prosecutor in Allen County. Thereafter, he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives for eight terms and to the Ohio Senate for six years. Gov. James Rhodes then appointed him to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals for six years. During his time in office he authored and co-sponsored bills that eliminated sales tax on prescription drugs, amended probate codes of Ohio, modernized bank procedures, strengthened shoplifting laws, founded the Ohio State University-Lima branch and many more. He was able to help train the Lima Correctional Institution for a long period. The Ohio Education Association presented him with a ?Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Leadership for the Improvement of Education in Ohio.? His fellow legislators selected him for the ?All-Star Team,? which included those representatives believed to be ?the ablest and most effective.? He served as pastor to the Wayne Methodist Church and the Cairo Methodist Church and continued to serve the church as a legal adviser. He was a member of Trinity Methodist Church. As a young man, he worked with his father at the Lima Locomotive Works and began a lifelong hobby of toy-train collecting. As president of the National Toy Train Collectors Association, he was instrumental in founding a museum in Pennsylvania. He donated his collection to Ohio Northern University, which used the proceeds of the sale to establish a scholarship fund and build a moot courtroom in the College of Law. He was also proud of serving as president of the Allen County Museum for 10 years, a trustee of Ohio Northern University, trustee on the Goodwill board and other charitable groups and was a member of the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs. Survivors also include two sons, William H. White, of St. Marys, and Robert A. (Jeri) White, of Dublin; three daughters, Judith E. (Nelson) Coleman, of Chillicothe, Carolyn W. (William) Kuehnle, of Upper Arlington, and Patricia W. (Henry) King, of Augusta, Ga.; a sister, Evelyn Greenhalge, of Huntington Beach, Calif.; and nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Beverly Ann White. Services will begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Chamberlain-Huckeriede Funeral Home. The Rev. David Harris will officiate. Burial will be in Woodlawn Cemetery, Lima. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. today and 12:30 to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to Trinity United Methodist Church, 310 W. Market St., Lima, OH 45801, or the Allen County Museum. Condolences may be expressed at www.chamberlainhuckeriede.com.