In Remembrance: Robert K. White ’50 Died on November 7 2021

View full image

With sadness but also with deep gratitude for a long life well lived, we announce the passing of Robert King White of Old Lyme, Connecticut, on November 7, 2021. 

Born in New York City on July 5, 1928. to Elsie Croll and Robert Hooper White, Bobby graduated from the Buckley School, Collegiate School, and Yale University (1950, St. Elmo). He was a longtime member of the New York Stock Exchange. 

In 1954 Bobby married Ellen Virden of Sands Point, Long Island. Together they moved to a continually expanding home on Marshall Ridge Road in New Canaan, Connecticut, where they raised a family of six children. 

After Bobby retired, he chaired the board of the New Canaan Library. He also served on the boards of the Henry L. Ferguson Museum and the Fishers Island Utility Company. 

Many of Bobby’s best friendships and fondest memories were formed on his beloved Fishers Island. His childhood summer home sat behind the 7th green on the Hay Harbor Club golf course. Little wonder that golf brought him a lifetime of joy and laughter. 

Bobby’s sharp wit, his deeply engaging stories, his infectious smile, and his abiding lack of pretention endeared him to many, many friends and acquaintances. 

He is survived by Ellen, his beloved wife of 67 years, and their six children: Robert, Elizabeth Atwood, Elsie Miller, Katie Welles, Andrew, and David. He is survived, as well, by 15 grandchildren: Katie, Cary, and Alex White; Ali Herter Logan and Julia Atwood; Charlie, Sam, Tripp, and Jack Miller; Elsie and Henry Welles; Harrison and Sydney White; and Bennet and Addison White—all of whom knew and loved him as Grandbobby. He was predeceased by his sister, Elsie White Parsons. 

Gifts in Bobby’s memory can be made to the Henry L. Ferguson Museum, PO Box 554, Fishers Island, NY 06390, or the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme.

—Submitted by the family.