John White

John was born January 30, 1938, in Grand Junction, CO to Albert “Red” White and Dorothy White Hampton. He was the middle child, between two sisters: Sally White (McGrew) and Marjorie White (Smith). He attended Mount Lincoln School in Palisade, CO as a boy and then graduated from Palisade High School in 1956. He then went on to enlist in the U.S. Army where he served in cryptography and was a recruiter by the time he retired after 22 years. While in the military, on assignment in Paris, he met Barbara York, an Air Force Sergeant’s daughter, and the absolute love of his life. John and Barbara married in Paris on June 11, 1960, and were married for 66 years.

On March 28,1961 while in Paris, John and Barbara welcomed their first child, a daughter, Kimberli. In June of that year, John and his family moved back to the US where he was assigned to Ft. Gordon, Georgia until February 1962 when they made another move to Los Angeles, CA. It was in Los Angeles that they welcomed their second child, a son, Larry, on October 3, 1962. His military service then took him and his family to Izmir, Turkey in 1963 until 1967. After that, John and his family were stationed at Fort Carson, CO where they welcomed their third child, another daughter, Shirley, on October 9, 1967.

John and his family then moved to Kansas City, KS where he worked with the CID. While in Kansas City, he had to have his kneecap removed, and then they moved back to Palisade. Following Months of rehab, he was deployed to Vietnam. Upon his return, the family moved to Southern California, in Los Alamitos. In 1972, his youngest daughter Shirley passed away at the age of five. They remained in Los Alamitos, CA until 1978 when he retired from the Army as a Master Sergeant.

Upon his military retirement John and Barbara bought a house in Palisade where he drove a school bus. While driving the school bus for R.W. Harmon bus company, he especially enjoyed working with those with special needs. During this time, John also attended Mesa College where he later received an associate degree and became the Safety Supervisor and then Manager of the R.W. Harmon bus company until his retirement in 1995. After retirement, John enjoyed making memories with his children and grandchildren on several trips to Lake Powell and Lagoon Amusement Park. He was an avid outdoorsman who loved to go hunting, fishing, camping, and traveling with his family and friends whenever he could.

John is preceded in death by his father Albert “Red” White, his sister Sally McGrew, daughter Shirley White, granddaughter Cari White, stepfather Kermit Hampton, his mother Dorothy White Hampton, as well as his stepbrother and sister-in-law, Jim and Mary Faye Hampton and his stepsister Janice Nesbitt.

John is survived by his wife Barbara and two children, Kim Cooper (Ron) and Larry White (Kathy). He is survived by his sister Marjorie Smith. He is also survived by his five grandchildren, Jonathan White (Allannis), Stephanie Hakes (John), Sean White (Bailey), Brady Cooper (Veronica), and Leslie Kell (Zach), and his 16 great-grandchildren.

Celebration of Life will be held on 9/19/2026 at 3 P.M at Debeque Community Center