Dagmar Hasalova White

Dagmar Hasalová White passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Monday, January 19, 2026, in Fairfax, Virginia. Dagmar was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on October 25, 1926. She was the daughter of Czechoslovak General Antonín Hasal, a military advisor to President Edvard Beneš in London during World War II. In 1940, General Hasal joined the Czechoslovak government in exile in France and then England to fight with the allies against the Nazi occupation.

After the Czech government in London sent commandos to assassinate Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, known as "the butcher of Prague," Dagmar, her brother, and her mother were arrested by the Gestapo in 1942. They, along with relatives of other overseas Czech resistance fighters, were sent to the Svatobořice internment camp for the duration of the war while Dagmar’s younger sister lived with relatives.

On May 5, 1945, Dagmar and her family were liberated by partisans. They went back to Prague where they reunited with General Hasal who had returned from England to become the minister of transportation for President Beneš. Dagmar attended Charles University in Prague and the Prague Conservatory for two years where she studied to be an opera singer.

After the communist coup in 1948, the Hasal family was under constant surveillance. They finally made the decision to emigrate to America and escaped with the help of the American ambassador in Prague and the U.S. Army in Germany.

Soon after the family’s arrival in the United States, Dagmar entered The University of Kansas and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music. Two years later, she completed a bachelor’s degree at the Juilliard School of Music and a master’s degree in music education at Columbia University.

Following the completion of her studies, she accepted a teaching position at Bogota, Columbia’s music conservatory where she met her future husband, Lewis “Jack” White, a diplomat with the American embassy. The following 18 years brought her two children, daughter Sandra and son Tom, plus a full musical career in every country where the family was posted. She performed as a soloist in operas and symphonies, and appeared on local radio and television stations in Washington, D.C., Columbia, The Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Morocco. She also directed local choral groups who sang in churches and went on tour.

When her family returned from its overseas assignments, she became a faculty member at the Northern Virginia Community College where she taught voice students in her music and opera workshops, inspiring some of them to pursue their own musical careers. Charles University in Prague conferred an honorary doctorate on Dagmar in 1992. In addition to her academic endeavors, she founded the Vienna Light Opera Company and directed and sang in performances that delighted audiences in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for over 30 years.

While she loved her adopted country for its values and commitment to freedom, justice, and peace, she never forgot her heritage and traditions from the old country. She served as vice president of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts & Sciences (SVU) for six terms and as president of the Washington, D.C. chapter from 1985-1988.

Engaged in all the society’s cultural and social events as well as its international conferences, she was a lead organizer and sought-after lecturer. In 2010, she received the Silver Commemorative Medal of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic for her activities supporting the spread of Czech musical and cultural traditions in America.

Along with her many professional activities, she directed a Czech choir to celebrate religious holidays and organized a popular Czech Christmas bazaar whose proceeds went to the SVU.

While music was her passion, her family was her lifeblood. Dagmar was an adventurous cook and enjoyed cooking dishes for loved ones from countries where she and Jack had been posted as well as traditional Czech recipes. She loved nothing more than family get-togethers, especially the family’s annual trip to Sandbridge Beach, VA. Her zest for life never waned, even in her nineties when she enjoyed bowling with her three adoring grandsons. We will treasure the love, legacy, and precious memories she gave us for the rest of our lives.

Dagmar is survived by her daughter Sandra Bartell (Earl) of Bellevue, Washington; son Tom White (Susan) of Vienna, Virginia; and grandsons Curtis Bartell, Andrew White (Sam), and Michael White (Haley). A Celebration of Life service for Dagmar will be held at Joseph Gawler’s Sons Funeral Home, 5130 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20016 at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 21, 2026. A reception for friends and family will be held in Gawler’s reception rooms right after the service.

Memorial donations can be made to the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library organization in memory of Dagmar Hasalová White at: https://ncsml.org/. Click the DONATE link at the right top of the screen. If you wish to send flowers for the service, we suggest Suburban Florist, 7936 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD. Phone: (301) 656-2288