Preston Atherton White III

Preston Atherton White III was born on October 1, 1946 in Terre Haute, Indiana to Preston A. White Jr. and Anna Louise White (Durham). Shortly after his birth the family moved to Cheektowaga, New York, outside Buffalo, where he grew up.

Too many Prestons in the family called for nicknames so his grandfather was called Whitey, his father Preston and he became Skipper or the later adult version of Skip. He was the first of five children and, as he liked to say, the best. He is remembered by brother Michael (Christine), and two sisters, Patricia White (Grady Parker), and Jill White Carey (Michael). He was predeceased by his parents and his brother Randall (Nanette).

Happily married for 57 years to his high school sweetheart, Kathleen ( Andres), they raised two sons, Brandon (Ellen) and Nathan (Tracy), and welcomed three grandsons, Gabriel, Micah and William. Nothing gave him more joy than being called Dad or Grandpa.

Preston was a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo earning a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and Master Degrees in Electrical Engineering, Engineering Science and Higher Education. He began his career in education accidentally by filling in mid-year as a Physics teacher at Williamsville North High School where he discovered he really liked teaching. He taught there for 12 years earning the Teacher of the Year award several times.

Winters in Buffalo, especially the Blizzard of ’77, drove him to look south for employment and led to the family’s move to Marietta, Georgia in 1982 where he was hired at Southern Polytechnic Institute in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. During his years there, Preston earned the Outstanding Faculty Award and was granted several NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowships where he applied his knowledge of fiber optics to projects at the Kennedy Space Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratories. He co-authored the revision of the standard textbook used to teach the introduction to electric circuits before retiring from Southern Tech 1997.

He was also employed as a consultant for Learning Tree International and later formed his own consulting company called Quality and Technology, Inc.

He led a full life beyond his career, earning his private pilot license, dabbling in home construction, becoming a certified scuba diver and he loved to travel. His only regret was that he never got to travel in space. Preston was known for his sense of humor and enjoyed socializing and meeting new people. Many will remember him as a man who was always ready to explore a new pub and one who never met a beer he didn’t like.

We found Home Hospice to be a strong support for us in his final days so we invite you to honor Preston’s memory by recognizing the work of their medical personnel.