Frances Buckley White exemplifies importance of helping others
Frances Buckley White said she strives to implement the lessons of her youth “that we can all make the world a better place even by doing the simplest things to help another person” and “no matter how big or small that help may seem, it makes a difference.”
Such was the ethic that prompted Portsmouth Catholic Alumni Relations Committee to induct White into the Circle of Saints, an annual honor given to an outstanding philanthropic alumnus or alumna of Portsmouth Catholic Regional School (PCRS) or a former Catholic school in Portsmouth.
White, who attended St. Paul for first through 11th grade, has been active in the community and has been a “godsend” to PCRS through the years, said Marie Reynolds Penney, School Advisory Board chair.
“Anytime something is needed, you can call her or send her word, and she will be at the school willing to do anything,” Penney said.
White’s three children, now adults, and four grandchildren attended or are attending the school, but even when none were going there, she continued to volunteer.
Over the years, some of the tasks White undertook were administrative work, helping in classrooms, supporting special events, assisting in the library, participating in fundraisers, helping in the lunchroom, providing her company’s electrical services and donating and helping install handrails to allow easy access to the school.
She was “so devoted” to the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who administered and staffed the school at one time, that she was awarded the honor and status of affiliate for the order in 1997, said Donna Henry, first grade teacher and assistant principal.
Fellow alumna Cindy Pauler described White as “just true blue” because whenever there’s a need, “if there’s anybody that’s going to step up to the plate, it’s going to be Frances. You can always count on her.”
Trouble balancing and difficulty driving has slowed White somewhat, but she continues to be eager to help with projects that can be done from her home, she said.
Having a servant’s heart is core to White. She said she was “always taught” to be kind, polite, treat others as she would want to be treated and help anyone anytime.
“I was always known for helping out whenever I could – always, either neighbors, family or anybody who needed me to help,” White said. “From the time that I was very young, I just learned that’s part of what you did because if you are good for other people, they would be good to you. It just always helped me be a better person.”
White was born in Portsmouth in March 1944. She is the oldest of four children and the only daughter. Faith was practiced regularly in the family as they attended weekend Masses and prayed together.
Frances said Catholicism “has always been part of my life” and has been “a reassuring positive foundation.”
“I think faith is very much part of what makes life good, what makes life secure,” she said.
Although White attended Woodrow Wilson High School for her senior year in 1961-62, she said she never forgot the value of a Catholic education. She believes it provides “a great foundation” morally and academically because her one year at public school taught her that some children never learn the importance of helping others. At Catholic schools, however, values are woven into the curriculum and the Golden Rule is upheld “as a part of everyday life.”
“If you learn it starting at a very young age, you very, very, very much know how to make it be part of your whole life,” White said.
She married Wayne White in 1970, and in 1974, they opened their electric company, now known as BFW Inc., which their three children, David, Cathy and Billy, currently run.
While raising her children, White “always wanted them to know that they had to learn as much as their minds would absorb” and “had to be kind to people around them.”
When the White family lived in Virginia Beach, she and her young children delivered Meals on Wheels, and she helped form the program in Portsmouth when her family moved there. She also helped with OASIS.
“They (her children) had to learn what to do to make a better world,” she said. “I taught them at a very young age that there were people who needed somebody to care enough as to whether or not they got food or had somebody to speak to.”
David said that through Meals on Wheels, he learned that when someone needs something, he should “step up and do the best you can,” and Cathy said her mother’s willingness to help others “planted a little voice in your head” that “it will take you less than a minute to just help somebody else.”
Frances and Wayne White also taught their children the importance of caring for their family. The reason they moved to Portsmouth was to care for Frances’ father who had health issues, and they later moved in with her mother-in-law to help her after her husband died.
Former fellow volunteer Roxann Lucha praised White for spreading joy.
“I think I would call her everybody’s grandma. She’s just this little teeny tiny woman, and she just always has a smile for everyone,” Lucha said. “If somebody was having a tough day and she could make it better, she would.”
Likewise, Henry said, “Frances fills anyone around her with glee and lifts them with laughter.”