Jim White

Jim White was born on May 13, 1918, in Oklahoma City, OK to Ira Louella (Harrison) and Jesse Franklin White, and he died there on June 8, 2017.
Jim held Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman degrees from the Professional Photographers of America (PPA). He began his lifelong passion for photography with the help of a neighbor as he experimented with his dad’s photographic equipment in the cellar. He worked for several small studios around Oklahoma City then opened White’s Studio in Seminole in 1940.
He was active in Professional Photographers of Oklahoma (PPOK) until he closed the studio and enlisted in the Navy in 1942. He was sent to photography schools in Alameda, CA and Pensacola, FL, then served in the Mediterranean and in the Pacific on the aircraft carrier Shamrock Bay from when it was commissioned in 1944 through the end of the war. He was a Chief Petty Officer and head of the photo lab.
In 1940 his watchmaker partner introduced him to Jackie Kever, the vivacious, 15-year-old raven-haired beauty, and although not love at first sight, the romance blossomed when both served the war effort in San Francisco. They were married on October 20, 1945, and settled in Seminole where he reopened White’s studio. He and Jackie lived in an apartment above the Kever grocery store. In the days before color film, Jim worked darkroom magic, then Jackie enhanced the prints with her colorist skills.
Their children, Leslie Susan (1948) and Jeffrey Harrison (1951), were born and lived there until 1959 when the family moved to Lubbock, TX. Jim became Director of Photography with Blunck Studio and the family moved to Clinton, OK in 1963. Jim continued to be active in the PPOK, having served as president in 1953, and the PPA. He and Jackie attended and served at nearly every annual PPOK convention where they nurtured life-long professional friends and encouraged young photographers.
He took great pride in judging the work of his professional colleagues in state and national competitions. His engaging, humorous, and informative presentations were enjoyed by everyone, and he learned from others at conventions and special schools. Jim’s portraits, landscapes, flowers, and other images won many awards and his work hung in the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.
Always a man of faith, Jim was a deacon and ordained elder in Presbyterian Churches in Seminole, Lubbock, and Clinton. He was a dedicated Boy Scout leader who led memorable camping trips and outings where he taught Scout skills and life lessons. The family, including his Kever sisters-in-law, Lema (Todd) Jenkins of Clinton and Boots Kever and good friends from Clinton, took memorable vacations in the mountains in Colorado and New Mexico. The welcoming family table hosted memorable meals of chili and tamales, spaghetti, and black-eyed peas and savory cornbread (“Wonder what the poor folks are eating tonight!”) served with laughter, love, and stories. The whole family loved words, and a favorite family entertainment was looking up words in the unabridged dictionary and reading poetry aloud.
Jim was the beloved photographer of generations of children from earliest infancy through school days to weddings and multi-generational family photographs. Literally thousands of people remember Jim’s signature “Quack, quack! Meow, meow” and the quick shutter clicks followed by, “I think we got a good one there.” He never told anyone to smile, but he could evoke the happiest, wisest, winsome, and charming expressions from even the most truculent toddler and he captured the essence of nearly everyone who sat before his lens as they marked important life events.
He was a gifted gardener who modeled healthy living. He and Jackie ground their own wheat and corn for Kever cornbread, bran muffins, and his famous rolls. He walked every day and observed beauty in the natural landscapes wherever he was. In addition to his travels in the Navy, Jackie and Jim traveled to Turkey, Europe, and in the US, and Jim toured China with PPA.
Jim and Jackie were more than happily married for 59 years, and he cared for her lovingly until her death in 2004. He wore red and sang “Thanks for the Memories” at Jackie’s funeral. Jim touched everyone with his positive, gracious, and grateful attitude and generous spirit, and he served as an example of what it means to be an excellent human being. Jim moved to Epworth Villa in Oklahoma City in 2005 to be near his dear friend Martha Thornborough.
Jim is survived by Leslie and her husband, John Adkins of Wichita Falls, TX, and their children James Chassot Adkins of Boston, MA, and Mark Carl Adkins of Austin, TX. He is also survived by Jeff and his wife Christianna and their children Sarah Caitlyn White Ranney, her husband, Bowen Ranney, and Jim’s great-grand-daughter Ruby Irene Ranney, all of Washington, DC, and Thomas Patrick White and his husband, Bryan Allen of Lanesboro, MN. Jim’s father died when he was a boy, but his mother died in Clinton when she was well into her 90s, and his older brother William Harrison White died when he was 99 in 2015.
A memorial service will be held in the fall at Santa Fe Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City. In the meantime, read Longfellow’s “Psalm of Life” and remember Jim, who will be sorely missed.

Paid Obituary