John Poston White passed away peacefully into the arms of his Lord on November 7, 2024, surrounded by his family, friends, and care takers. Born on February 21, 1933, to Victor P. White and Lucy Alice (Baker) White in Anson, Texas. John lived a life that was meaningful, purpose-driven, full of heart, with total devotion to his family.
John’s story begins with the fact that he was born fifteen minutes earlier than his twin brother, James “Jim” E. White. They were the youngest of six children.
He is survived by his twin brother, James “Jim” E. White, and his wife Wanda; nieces – Carol Parish and Nancy (Mike) Benetich; nephews – David (Barba) Keene, Sam White, and Brad Alberts; cousins – Frank Shepard and Judy (Harold) Lowe
John is preceded in death by his parents; sisters – Suzanne White, Nancy (White) Alberts, and Jane (White) Keene; and brother, George Baker White. Niece - Lucy McBee, and nephews – Victor Keene, Gilbert Alberts, and George B. White, Jr.
Anson was a thriving community in those early days with about thirty-five hundred people. Since the family lived in town, the children walked to school. And in those days, the school system consisted of only elementary school and a high school. John and Jim were the first class to graduate with a twelve-year diploma. Before that, everybody only went through eleven grades to get their high school diplomas.
One day his aunt was visiting and saw the boys (probably 8th grade) sketching and said, “Oh you ought to be architects,” they did not know what that was; so, they looked it up in the dictionary. That is when they both decided that is what they were going to be! The boys had their heart set on the architectural program at the University of Texas (UT) in Austin, but there was another matter to consider. “It was a peaceful time, but the draft was still a reality.” The draft board in Anson told them they would need to serve before or after college, but it had to be one or the other. They decided to obtain their degrees first and then report for duty.
They completed their first year at North Texas Junior College (now UT Arlington), which was a branch of Texas A&M. Later, they found out going there meant ultimately transferring to A&M and the twins said they “weren’t interested in transferring to A&M.” So, after a semester they both transferred to the University of Texas at Austin and John graduated with his first professional degree, a Bachelor of Architecture in 1957. Upon receiving that bachelor’s degree, he enlisted in the United States Air Force as an Intern Architect at Chanute, Illinois in Chanute Air Force Base, Rantoul, Illinois.
When their service ended the twins were both hired by the same firm, Peters and Fields Architects in Odessa, and worked there for 10 years until Jim was offered a teaching position at Texas Tech University (TTU). Meanwhile, John decided to attend graduate school. Since there was no graduate program in architecture at Texas Tech at the time it meant saying goodbye to Jim for the first time in 32 years. He attended the University of Nebraska and earned his master’s in architecture in 1973. While it had separated the twins for only two years, it also made them realize they had no interest in being apart again.
The study of preservation at TTU started while architecture was the Division of Architecture under the College of Engineering. Professor Will Robinson and Dr. Betsy Sasser developed an undergraduate program in historic preservation which ultimately moved into the graduate program. Over numerous summers John had spent time working with the National Park Service in historic preservation, providing building surveys that documented historic buildings around the United States. In 1979, John returned to teach at TTU and with the National Park Service background he became part of the program in historic preservation. After Dr. Sasser retired and Will Robinson passed away, John became the program’s director, and he headed the program till 2016 when it was dissolved.
Over the years of teaching John’s passion for history was strengthened as he had discovered that the Historic American Building Survey(HABS) was a part of the National Park Service and documented historic structures all around the country. After several calls, HABS offered John a summer position that ended up encompassing the next 25 years. His work took him as far as Puerto Rico, where he surveyed a fort built by the Spaniards in 1539. John has visited almost every state in the country, and a few foreign countries as his expertise is sought by many in the historic preservation community. In fact, the Library of Congress has 60,000 drawings that John and his team of students have completed. Before his retirement in 2018, from TTU he created the Master Degree program in Historic Preservation program at the Huckabee College of Architecture (HCoA).
John and Jim travelled extensively over the years across the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe studying architectural wonders, and using those as examples in their studio and lecture courses.
John has been involved in everything imaginable, but here are a few committees and organizations to which he gave his time and devotion:
AIA Lubbock - Treasurer, Third Year Director, President-Elect (twice), and President (1993 & 2008)
Texas Society of Architects (TxA) – Historic Preservation Committee
TTU College of Architecture - Scholarship Committee, he was Chair for a number of years
Served as a consultant to the Design Leadership Alliance (DLA) with the Huckabee College of Architecture
Society Fraternity Advisor at TTU (10-years)
National Tau Sigma Delta (Honor Society in Architecture and Allied Arts – served as Treasurer for 10 years)
Visiting Professor at the Universidad de Guanajuato in Guanajuato, Mexico
City of Lubbock – Urban Design and Historic Commission committee member
Lubbock Heritage Society - Member
Lubbock County Historic Preservation Board Member
Historic American Building Survey (HABS) - Documented historic structures (5-years): among those are the Statue of Liberty, Texas State Capital, the Maryland State House, Mark Twain’s Home, the Quaker Meeting Houses, San Antonio Missions, Scottie’s Castle, the JA Ranch, Rancho Santa Fe, and many others
Habitat for Humanity Building Committee (10-years)
His service to First United Methodist Church encompasses 50 years which includes:
Member of the Nominations Committee
Member of the Organ Committee
Member of the Mission’s Ministry
Secretary to the Board of Trustees
Thanksgiving Dinner Committee
Church Greeter
John was honored in September 2024 by the Huckabee College of Architecture, students, alumni, and supporters with a Graduate Fellowship Endowment named in his honor.
As you read this snippet of John’s life, he has been a son, brother, uncle, service member, professor; colleague; mentor; therapist; sounding board; caretaker of history; AIA, TxA, and AIA Lubbock member; community member; friend...BUT most importantly a Christian. He will be greatly missed by all of us…
The family wants to thank Nicki, Amaya, Mary, and Sandra with Comfort Keepers; Hospice of Lubbock; Dr. Martinez and his staff, and Linda Mojica, his long-time housekeeper for their care and love.
Honorary Pallbearers will be all John’s former students, faculty, and friends.
A visitation will be held Monday, November 11th from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Resthaven Funeral Home & Memorial Park, 5740 19th Street, Lubbock, TX.
The Celebration of Life for John P. White will be held at 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at the First United Methodist Church, located at 1411 Broadway in Lubbock after a private family burial at Resthven.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggest memorials may be made to the Texas Tech Foundation, Inc. (Box 41081 | Lubbock, TX 79409) to the “White Associates AIA Scholarship Endowment,” or the “James E. White, AIA and John P. White, AIA Graduate Fellowship Endowment;” the First United Methodist Church (1411 Broadway | Lubbock, TX 79401); Lubbock Habitat for Humanity (3630 50th Street | Lubbock, TX 79413); or your favorite charity.
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