Kathleen Marie White

Kathleen M. White, a New York native who lived in Arlington, Virginia for more than seven decades, built careers at both the FBI and Bloomingdale’s department store, and traveled extensively and joyously, died July 31 in Arlington at the age of 94. Kathleen was born in Hornell, New York, upstate in the Finger Lakes area, on December 7, 1928. Her parents and extended family worked throughout the region for the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. She grew up there and graduated from Hornell High School in 1946. Kathleen went on to Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania on a science scholarship from Bausch & Lomb, the eye health company, and later attended George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1950, settling in Arlington, and won a position with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a fingerprint analyst. She was an FBI employee for eight years until marrying Trevor White, formerly of Seven Kings, Essex, England, on April 7, 1958. The two relocated briefly to Toronto, Canada, where Trevor worked for the Canadian Automobile Association, before returning to Arlington in 1962. They had three children: Dawn, Jonathan, and Christopher. In 1977 Kathleen joined Bloomingdale’s as an auditor in the chain’s flagship Tysons Corner store and remained with the company until 1993. In retirement she enjoyed Arlington’s Signature Theater; ballet evenings at the Kennedy Center; concerts in fair weather at the Air Force Memorial near the Pentagon and Wolf Trap in Fairfax County; attending Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals games; and the National Portrait Gallery, Hirschhorn Museum, and Smithsonian Museum complex in the District of Columbia. She relished her expeditions to France, Croatia (where, she told friends upon her return, she dined on bear), Italy, Mexico, and especially Ireland. Starting in 2017 Kathleen resided at Arlington’s Culpepper Gardens senior residential facility, where she developed deep affection for new friends and caregivers. Kathleen is survived by her children, Dawn Farmer and Jonathan White, and two grandchildren, Emily White and Brendan Farmer, of whose accomplishments she was most proud. She was predeceased by her ex-husband Trevor and son Christopher. Kathleen has been laid to rest at National Memorial Park in Falls Church, Virginia. In place of religious ceremonies a celebration of Kathleen’s life will be held Saturday, September 16 from 2:00 to 5:00 PM at Ireland’s Four Provinces, 105 W. Broad Street, Falls Church, an Irish pub – as little gave Kathleen greater pleasure than a glass of wine and a nibble of cheese with good and happy friends. Instead of flowers, Kathleen’s family asks that you consider a donation in her memory to the local hospice of your choice.