Clifford Edward White

Clifford E. White Jr. 1924 - 2011 Clifford E. White, Jr., 87, of Bakersfield, CA passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 4, 2011 at his home. He was born February 6, 1924 in Exeter, CA. He was married to his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Valley in 1943, and within 5 months entered the Navy in World War II. He served as a third class Radarman in the South Pacific and Australia. He returned home in 1945 to his wife and 22 month old son, Freddie, whom he had never met. They went on to have two more children. Cliff spent his professional life in Construction all up and down California. He moved his family to Sparks, NV in 1965 and worked for Brunzell Construction. At the pinnacle of Cliff's construction career, he became Vice President and General Manager of Corrao Construction, responsible for building such Reno landmarks as the Pioneer Auditorium, the El Dorado Hotel, Harvey's at Lake Tahoe, Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, and the Playboy Club in Atlantic City, NJ. In 1979, Cliff and Dot retired and began traveling the United States, Canada and Mexico in their RV with their good friends Vince and Winifred Bittleston. Dorothy and Vince both passed away within a short time of each other in 1991. In 1992, Cliff married lifelong friend Winifred Bittleston and spent 19 wonderful years together, living in Mexico and Bakersfield. Cliff was preceded in death by his parents Clifford E. Sr., and Mattie (Patterson) White, sister Nadine Stennant, brother Fred P. White, and first wife Dorothy (Valley) White. He is survived by his wife Winifred (Marsh-Bittleston) White, son Fred A. and Diana White of Arroyo Grande, CA (Erica, Jared, Chris, Jazmin, Julie, Rob, Shanda, Brian, Whitney, Kegan, Logan, Parker, Austin, Emily); son Steve E. White of Conroe, TX (Steve, Ryan, Mason, Kaden) ; and daughter Patricia & Fred McCrary of Sparks, NV (Mark, Missy, Shalee, Stephan, Maddie, Mason, Maechyn). He will also be greatly missed by Winifred's children and grandchildren and great-children - Marcia Bogan (Gene & Sharon), Tom & Rosie Bittleston (Larry, Jeff, Dawn, Richard, Merillee, Marissa, Conner, Jared, Sidney, & Hunter) and Allan & Lynda Bittleston (Deene, Tim, Brad, Rochelle, Hayden, Madalyn, and Jimmy). A special thanks goes out to the many people who gave Cliff such wonderful care over the last few months! The family would like to extend their sincere appreciation to Louise Lavin, Dr. William Baker, Janice Knowlton, the care givers from Hoffman Hospice - Lupe, Lydia, and Ann, and Ellie from Alternative Care. Your generosity meant so much to Cliff and Winnie during this time. Thank you. Graveside services will be held at Hillcrest Memorial Park on Friday, September 9, 2011 at 10:00am.