Dear Friends & Family! You are cordially invited to a
"Come & Go 80th Year"
Celebration Receptionto honor
Robert Lee White
Saturday, October 8, 2005
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.Pratt Community Center
619 N. Main St. - Pratt, KS
(6 blocks N. of #54 Hwy)Please no gifts.
Only the gift of your presence!For contact info. call
Sheryl White, 620-546-5773
"Country Gal" by Vanita (White) Blundell
The Western Star, October 12, 2005.My cousin Sheryl White held a birthday party for her dad, on Saturday. My Uncle Bob White turned 80 this year. His birthday was actually in January, but he was not well in January and then his wife, Aunt Ester, had some health problems. So, 10 months later, we get everyone feeling fit and somewhat healthy, we had a party at the Senior Center in Pratt. It was nice to see and visit with some of my cousins and meeting some of the in-laws of Uncle Bob. He married Esther Hornbaker from the Hutchinson area. She was one of 12 children and Uncle Bob was one of six so there was no shortage of family.
I love to hear Uncle Bob tell stories about Granddad White. From all of the tales that he tells it is a wonder that he is still alive and has all of his body parts. Being the one of the youngest of the White clan I feel that I missed out on a lot of excitement. Granddad was an interesting fellow but he could prove to be dangerous from time to time. The Whites have been accused of making a so-so story into something a little more amusing. This is one of my favorite stories, if this is not entirely correct I�m sorry, but this is the story as it was told to me by my dad and I will try not to embellish it in any way. But, as I said before, Granddad White was so colorful that his stories did not need any embellishment. Well, here it goes, the neighbors mule got out and ended up at Granddad's house. He put the mule in the barn and the neighbor sent his son to retrieve the runaway. The boy must have been around 12 years old; he tied the mule to his saddle horn with his 30 foot rope. Instead of snubbing the mule close he had that mule at the very end of the lariat.
Well, Granddad decided to go to town. Granddad was not the most observant person. He gets in his automobile. I�m not sure what kind of car it was but whatever it was it had a radiator cap that stuck up. The neighbor boy was taking his time going home and let the mule go on the other side of the road, which meant that the rope was across the road. Granddad going to town with things on his mind and did not notice that the mule was across the road and whizzes by the boy on horseback the rope caught on the radiator, jerked the boy off his horse and killed the mule. Stories like that are ones that need to be told that way our grandchildren might get to know us well after we are gone. Uncle Bob has lots of stories as Granddad's vehicles never had brakes so he was close to death many times. Since many of my dad's vehicles never had brakes either I have always had a common bond with Uncle Bob. Come to think of it, Virgil can identify with Uncle Bob as well.
"Country Gal", by Vanita (White) Blundell, The Western Star, February 5, 2008. Our family has lost another member. My Uncle Bob passed away this week. He was the youngest and the last of Dads brothers and sisters. Uncle Bob was always so kind and nice to his nieces and nephews and very witty. All of Dads family was unforgettable characters. Uncle Bob had all kinds of stories of Granddad White. He lived through many traumatic experiences with Granddad at the wheel. Since he was the youngest he spent more time with Granddad one on one. I think that during that time you could say that it built moral fiber.
Bob might be remembered as someone who never got in a real hurry. He took his time and whatever he was doing he did it right. He helped us build our house. He was very methodical in every thing that we wanted him to do. He would measure twice and cut once. Instead cutting a board twice and it still would be too short. We will miss him greatly, but he has so many other family members waiting for him in heaven.
Bob White of Wilmore, Ks, 1942 or 1943.
Photo from the collection of
Wendel Ferrin
Thanks to Sheryl White & Janet Marsh for providing the above invitation to this web site!
The above photo of Bob White circa 1942 is from the collection of Wendel G. Ferrin.
This website is being created by Jerry Ferrin with the able assistance of many Contributors. Your comments, suggestions and contributions of historical information and photographs to this site are welcome. Please sign the Guest Book. This page was last updated 07 Feb 2008.