Claudine Yvonne White "Bruce"

Claudine was the youngest child of Hilary D. and Aleathia J. (Wood) Manley. Her siblings, who all preceded her in death, include Clifton J. Manley, Athalone Q. Shaw, Hortense Williams, Hilton R. Manley, Selven L. Manley, Russell D. Manley, and Odell T. Spruiell.

Claudine grew up on her family’s farm in Conway, North Carolina. In her childhood years, she enjoyed a strong family- and community-oriented life as a member of the Nebo Baptist Church and as she attended Holly Grove Elementary School and graduated Rich Square High School. Claudine also enjoyed two years attending Virginia State College, in Petersburg, VA.

For a short time after the death of her parents, Claudine tried life in New York where she worked in a factory sewing parachutes to support World War II efforts. She soon decided to move to Washington, DC. She found work as a messenger for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, delivering communications parcels around the city. During this period, she met and fell in love with a returning World War II veteran, Oscar L. White. They married in 1947.

Claudine and Oscar set up household in southeast Washington, DC and went on to raise five children there. She had a fun-filled personality and a great sense of humor. She was active in the Parent and Teachers Associations and in Head Start programs of her children’s schools, as well as in leadership positions of the local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops. She maintained relationships with near and distant family and friends and visited her North Carolina home as often as possible. She helped to establish the Manley/Boone family reunion tradition.

Claudine was widowed in 1967. She then moved her family to Prince Georges County, MD and resumed a career with the Federal Government. She worked for several agencies including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Office. She also worked part time for Field Enterprises Educational Corporation.

Claudine successfully provided for her children and managed to see that all of her children attended college and were prepared to lead productive lives. Her second son, Leon G. White, succumbed to cancer in 1971 after graduating as Second Lieutenant from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO.

Mourning her passing are her surviving children: Oscar L. (Tracy) White, Jr., Denise Y. (William Schmitz) White, Deborah M. White and Gary P. (Amelia) White; grandchildren: Yasmin F. Reid, Damian A. (Lisa) White, Dmitri A. White, Leon G. (Amani) White, Aaron P. White, and Darian M. Graham; and great-grandchildren: Isabella G. White and LeNard R. Reid, III.

Claudine was deeply loved and will be greatly missed by her family and friends.