Emerson Donald White, 86, of Placida, Florida peacefully passed away on October 29, 2023 at home, surrounded by family. Known to all as Don, he was born in .
Speaking with a soft, North Carolina lilt in a voice suggesting a genteel lady 50 years younger than her stated age, White nevertheless, has seen a lot of history. And like the warm mothers in Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver, she has floated above the unpleasant parts, focusing on family and the simple pleasures of life.
Along the way, she has also found a creative outlet that on her way to 100, still brings her the joy of making something new.
Born in Jacksonville, just before the crash that brought on the Great Depression, White learned about what happens when jobs disappear. Her family moved back to a grandfather’s North Carolina farm to weather the next years. “We had plenty to eat from the land,” she says, almost wistfully. Her father got a WPA job and her mother taught her to can food and master other “womanly” arts, like crocheting and sewing.
Standard-Times
During the month of February, the 18th Lights for Peace flag to fly at the Fort Taber - Fort Rodman Military Museum honors the memory of PFC Herbert H. Blake, of New Bedford, who served in the European Theater during WWII.
Blake was inducted into the United States Army on May 29, 1944 and served with the 4410th Quartermaster Service Company as a truck driver and shipping clerk until his discharge on August 25, 1945. “He left his wife and two small children to join many brave souls to fight to end the war,” stated his granddaughter, Lee Blake of the New Bedford Historical Society.