Richard Sherman White, age 87, of Haddam, died peacefully in his sleep on November 27th, 2012 at Middlesex Hospital after a brief illness.
Dick was the beloved husband of Joan Craig White who predeceased him September 4th, 2012 and the loving father of Barbara W. Morse, Cynthia Maclay, Richard S. White Jr., William F. White, Robert C. White and Roger S. White who predeceased him and stepfather to Carolyn Wathey-Lee. He was brother to Barbara Dailey, Margaret McKee and Robert Cantelo White, all deceased, and half-brother to Joan White, deceased.
Dick loved and was proud of his many grandchildren: Carolyn James, Albert Wathey, Edmond, Christopher and Benjamin Morse, Willis and Peter Phelps, Sarah and Lauren White, Christian and Rebekah White and Gregory, Stephen and Matthew White and his three great grandchildren, Braylee, Huyler and Aubrey.
Dick was born September 29, 1925 in Spuyten Duyvil, N.Y. son of Ernest Cantelo White, an engineer, inventor and founder of the Tork Clock Company that became Tork Controls, Inc. of Mt. Vernon, NY, and Edythe Minot Sherman. Dick was a descendent of Roger Sherman, the only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States of America: 1. The Continental Association, 2. The Declaration of Independence, 3. The Articles of Confederation and 4.The Constitution.
After graduating from Bronxville High School, Dick attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating in 1948 with a B. S. in Business and Engineering Administration.
After graduation, Dick worked for the Bankers Trust Company of New York before co-founding Automation Engineering Laboratories with his father and brother. He was honored in 1969 as president of one of the fastest growing companies in New England and was invited to the White House to attend the President’s Dinner on Innovation and Business Growth. Later, Dick founded two other companies, Automation Machinery & Development of Stratford, CT and Printing Technologies, Inc. with his two sons, Richard, Jr. and William.
Dick was a true entrepreneur and invented several noteworthy machines including machines that automated the filling of the Whitman Candy Sampler, the Parker Brothers Game “Monopoly” and the stitching of pockets on pants made by Levi Strauss.
Besides his love of family, his passions included sailing in Maine, the Bahamas, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket on board his Horizon Bound I and II and downhill skiing and cross-country skiing in the Stratton Mountain area of Vermont. He also enjoyed annual visits with his Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity brothers for over 50 years.
Over the years, Dick and his wife “Joanie Girl” had homes and friends in New Canaan, Old Saybrook and Essex, CT and South Yarmouth, MA before settling at The Saybrook at Haddam in Haddam, CT. Dick and his wife Joan enjoyed daily prayer, reading the Bible and their active involvement with Grace Episcopal Church in Old Saybrook, CT.
Services will be held at Grace Episcopal Church, Old Saybrook, on Saturday, December 8, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Dick and Joan White may be made to Grace Episcopal Church, 336 Main St, Old Saybrook, CT 06475. Please visit www.swanfuneralhomeoldsaybrook.com for tributes and condolences.
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