Leola Pauline White

Born and raised in Wyoming, she left to marry the love of her life, Bruce White, in 1966. They moved all over the country while Bruce was in the Marine Corps, but after having two children, settled in San Jose, CA, to join the boom of the new Silicon Valley in the late 1970s and 1980s. Following Bruce’s passing in 1987 and after her children left for college, Leola returned to school at night while working full time for seven years, ultimately earning her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of San Francisco. She later married Terry Ferguson, and they relocated to the coast in Capitola. Leola’s professional life was dedicated to helping children through school administration, serving as Assistant Superintendent at both Soquel and Gilroy Unified School Districts. After her retirement and Terry’s death, Leola returned to her roots in Cheyenne, where she became an active member of the Cancer Assistance Association and the Order of the Eastern Star.

Family was very important to Leola and she leaves behind so many people that loved her dearly: daughter Traci White Johnson and her husband Dale; son Kevin White and his wife Christine; eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, with another on the way. She is also survived by her siblings: Wally, Sheirlie (and Del), Sheila, and Joyce (and Gary).

She loved chocolate and ice cream and every kind of seafood, but especially calamari. She made beautiful quilts and the best cinnamon rolls. In her later years, she and her sister, Billie, became inseparable and were rabid baseball fans. We will miss her kind nature, her hugs, and her laugh.

Leola was cremated and her ashes will be scattered at a later date on the family ranch in Pine Bluffs and in the ocean in Capitola. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Burns Eastern Star Scholarship Fund at PO Box 339, Burns, WY 82053.