Jane Rhyne White

With deep sadness, our family announces the death of beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother: Jane Ellen Rhyne White, 84, of Granite Falls, North Carolina, who passed away peacefully on Monday, February 12, 2024, after a battle with cancer.

Jane was born on January 30, 1940, in Mount Holly, North Carolina, to the late John Ward Rhyne and Margaret Blanche Lewis. She attended Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Mount Holly as a child, later teaching Sunday School, Bible School, and playing the piano for the young children. Her favorite holiday as a child was Halloween where the children would spend time on the lawn at church, eating barbeque and going Trick-or-Treating.

She graduated from Mount Holly High School in 1958. She studied at Appalachian State University from 1958 to 1960 and graduated from Lenoir Rhyne College in 1962. On December 26, 1961, she married her high-school sweetheart, F. Steve White, Sr. They enjoyed 55 years of marriage together. She spent the early years of their marriage teaching school in Mecklenburg and Gaston counties. She was loved for her work a librarian at Jenkins Elementary School in Hickory.

Jane was a dedicated wife and mother to her four children. Her faith guided her in her life, and she supported her husband, Steve, in his businesses. She was a National and Grand National Paso Fino horse rider. She was an active assistant troop leader in the Girl Scouts with her daughter, Susan, and she enjoyed watching her daughter compete in baton twirling competitions and sewing her outfits. Jane loved planting beautiful flower arrangements around the farm, being with her children and grandchildren, and looking for opportunities to bless others. She enjoyed many happy days with her family and dogs at their farm on Grace Chapel Road, where the children and grandchildren would swim in the pool and go fishing in the farm pond.

Jane was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution for fourteen years. She and her late husband were also members of St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Hickory. Through her ancestry, she learned she had a great-great-great uncle Alfred Daniel Rhyne, who helped Lenoir Rhyne University in its founding days. The past two years, she has proudly supported the University by attending LRU football and basketball games. She also ate in the Bears’ Club with great pride.

Jane is survived by her children: Steve White, Jr. and wife Marsha; Chan White and wife Lori; Marc White and wife Macaulay; and Susan White Baumert and husband, Stephen; her nine grandchildren: Jordan White; Hunter White and wife Brittany; Freddie Steven “Trey” White, III and wife, Kayla; Meredith White Beiland and husband, Dylan Beiland, Sr; Marc White, Jr. and Morgan White; Jonah Baumert; Benjamin Baumert; and Nathaniel Baumert; and her great-grandchildren: Bailey Barnes White; Dylan “Spencer” Beiland, Jr., and William Rhyne Beiland; Caroline Grace White, and Carter Steven White.

She is preceded in death by her parents, John Ward Rhyne (1977) and Margaret Blanche Lewis Rhyne (1972); by her sister, Patricia Rhyne Norwood (2020), and by her husband, Freddie Steven White, Sr. (2017).

A funeral service will be held at St. Aloysius Catholic Church, 921 2nd St NE, Hickory, NC on Saturday, February 17th, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. The Rev. Lawrence LoMonaco will be officiating. Private family burial will follow at Catawba Memorial Park, 3010 US-70, Hickory, NC 28602.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Samaritan’s Purse at https://www.samaritanspurse.org/ or by mail at P.O. Box 3000, Boone, NC, 28607 or to Safe Harbor at https://safeharbornc.org or by mail at 112 2nd Ave SE, Hickory, NC 28602.

Our family appreciates all of the love and support shown to Jane the past several years through visits, gifts, notes, and support.

Condolences may be sent to the family website at http://www.drumfh-hickory.com

The White Family has entrusted funeral arrangements to Drum Funeral Home in Hickory, NC.