Auldine "Mac" Marie White

Mac was born August 23, 1933 in Port Arthur, Texas, the only child of Adio Ardoin and Cecilia McMullin Ardoin. While her family heritage was Irish from her mother and Cajun from her father, she was a Texas Rose till the day she died. She attended Catholic schools in Port Arthur through high school where most of her classmates were of Cajun heritage. At Bishop Byrne High School, the home of the Fighting Irish, she constantly reminded her classmates she was the only person with Irish heritage in the school. As a result, her friends started calling her Mac and that became her lifelong nickname.

She was a teacher, after college graduation and before her marriage, in the Orange, Texas public schools teaching 4th grade. Later she taught history and geography for a year at St. Brigid’s Catholic School in Pacific Beach, Calif.

While attending Texas State College for Women (TSCW, now called Texas Women’s University) in Denton, Texas she met her future husband, LeRoy White while on a blind triple date. Mac was the tallest girl, so she was paired with the tallest boy, not LeRoy. She said she didn’t really pay attention to LeRoy, so when she got a letter from him asking her for a date, she had to think about who he was. Luckily, she remembered and by their third date, a weeklong trip to Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg, Texas they were both in love.

Mac and LeRoy were wed in St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Port Arthur, Texas on July 16, 1955 and their honeymoon was a car trip to San Diego, where LeRoy had taken a job as an electrical engineer with Convair for its missile programs. San Diego would remain their home.

Just over a year after arriving in San Diego, her son was born. Mac didn’t grow up caring for babies but she quickly learned and was a good loving mom devoted to the well-being of her family. Two daughters followed, one in 1963 and the last child in 1964.

LeRoy traveled a great deal for his job, so Mac had to be a single parent and keep the children from killing each other, because they tried! She was a wonderful cook who loved to experiment and try new things. She could have run a taxi company with all the logistics planning needed to get her children to school, little league, scouting, camping trips, dancing and enumerable other destinations.

Besides cooking, Mac loved to travel, read books and follow current events, especially politics. She was LeRoy’s Bridge partner and became a pretty good card player. LeRoy and Mac made a formidable couple in several Bridge Tournaments and Bridge church groups. She loved her extended family and kept in constant contact with them. Through LeRoy’s work and their Bridge playing they formed some strong and enduring friendships with many other couples. Some friends pre-deceased them but some were still caring for Mac until her death, years after they had first met.

Mac was a devout Catholic all her life and did all she could to ensure her children received a Catholic school education through high school. She also sewed various items for her church and influenced LeRoy to build items for the church. The only devotion she had as great as her faith, was to LeRoy. They were married for 64 years and he was as devoted to her as she was to him. Mac was the planner who was always prepared for the worst-case scenario, which was the perfect Yang to LeRoy’s Ying, as an eternal optimist. Their relationship was collaborative and caring, based on their mutual support and deep love for each other.

Mac passed away in San Diego on February 29, 2020 at age 86, four and half months after her beloved LeRoy. They are now together again for eternity. She is survived by her three children, David, Karen and Donna; nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren. She was pre-deceased by one grandchild, Daniel. A rosary will be held at Our Mother of Confidence Catholic Church in San Diego at 9 a.m. on Friday, March 20 followed by a funeral mass at 9:30 a.m. and graveside services at El Camino Memorial Cemetery at 11 a.m. in Sorrento Valley. In lieu of flower please donate to St. Vincent de Paul, One of Mac favorite charities.