Rose White

Surrounded by her family and an outpouring of love, on November 17, 2010, Rose F. White went to join her husband, brothers, sisters, mother and father, and great grandson for an eternal life in heaven. Rose (Rosina) was born to Agostino and Anna Carolina Caputo Falbo in the mining town of Boomer, West Virginia, April 15, 1914. She was the granddaughter of Raffaele and Anna Maria Secreto Falbo and granddaughter of Giuseppe and Cherubina Caputo. Rose's father immigrated from Caccuri, Calabria, Italy on March 21, 1902 with twenty dollars in his pocket, and her mother on November 3, 1907. After her father worked in the Boomer Coal & Coke Company coal mine for thirteen years, he died February 9, 1921 at the age of 44 of leukemia/black lung disease, leaving his wife and six children. Rose's mother wasn't able to cope with his death and became ill. She was admitted to Spencer State Hospital with tuberculosis, where she died on April 2, 1928 at age 44. In 1927, after the children had been living alone in the coal company house for a good while, the mining camp Baptist missionary June Barber (the sister of Dr. Daniel Barber of Charleston, WV) made arrangements for Rose, Elizabeth, Alexander and Sam to live at the City Mission (later named Union Mission) in Charleston. The two oldest children, Mary and Ralph, went to live with cousins (but the children called them "Uncle"); Mary went to Jim Lucente in Charleston and Ralph went to Bartelo Lucente in Pittsburgh, PA. Rose's Uncle Jim Lucente came from Charleston in his grocery store truck to take the four younger children up South Park Road (which, at the time was called Abney Circle) to the (summer) Mission. After the day's trip the children were very hungry and were given a wonderful supper; they had very little food to eat at their home in Boomer. The Mission had cattle and a garden which supplied the children in their care with vegetables, meat once a week, and milk. Rose and her siblings were well taken care of, even though it was during the Great Depression, and most people had very little. In 1933, when Rose was to be a senior at Charleston High School, she moved in with her older sister Mary, who was then living at the YWCA. Rose had many angels watching over her. She had no money but "took the leap anyway". She put her meager belongings into a "cheap suitcase" and walked ten blocks through town to move in with Mary. This was her chance for freedom, which she had never experienced. "Oh, what a breath of fresh air!" she said in her memoirs. In 1934, two weeks after graduating from Charleston High School, Rose went to the Buckhannon Drug Store across the street from the downtown (winter) Union Mission. There, she met Edwin Lanham White. They were married in 1937, and had three children. Carolyn Sue (William F.) Tyler of Aiken, South Carolina, Edwina Ann (Walter) Carns of Columbia, South Carolina, and Jennifer Jane (John, Jr.) Dineen of Waxahachie, Texas. Rose was a member of Christ Church Methodist in downtown Charleston, having been christened there in 1940. She became a member of South Park Presbyterian Church by letter of transfer from Christ Church Methodist in 1947, serving in many capacities such as Choir, Sunday School Teacher, and Youth Leader. She was ordained as an Elder of the church in 1971. She served God tirelessly and her faith was the most important part of her life since asking Jesus into her heart at age 14. Rose worked at the Naval Ordinance Plant in South Charleston for nine years, and then worked as executive secretary to the Air Force Major in charge of the regional recruiting office in Charleston until she retired in 1986 at the age of 72. She received many awards for excellent performance, in part because Government forms, at that time, were filled out in triplicate with no erasures allowed. Rose had many hobbies including cooking, baking, gardening, reading, traveling and water aerobics. Rose was preceded in death by her husband, Edwin on April 23, 1981 and by her oldest sister, Anna Maria (Mary) Falbo Rose's oldest brother Rafael (Ralph) Falbo, her younger sister, Alesandrina (Elizabeth) Falbo Dixson, her youngest brother, Salvatore (Sam) Falbo, and her great-grandson John Paul Dineen, IV. She has one surviving sibling, Alexander Falbo of Pittsburgh, PA In addition to her three daughters, Rose is survived by her grandchildren, Kelly (Tim) Stead of Wichita, Kansas, Stacy Gray of Ft. Worth, Texas, Courtney Tyler of San Francisco, California, Stephanie Tyler of Davie, Florida, Kirsten Lee Hindes of Atlanta, Georgia, Marcy Kathleen (Rodney) Swan of Columbia, South Carolina, John Paul Dineen, III (Heather) of Waxahachie, Texas and Laura Beth (Sam) Anderson of Waxahachie, Texas. Great-grandchildren are Kaitlyn Stead, Taylor (Shawn) Gray-Fleek, Mackensy Gray, Lila Dineen, Amelia Dineen, John Paul Dineen, V, Wyatt Anderson, CY Anderson, Elijah Swan, Kathleen (Kate) Swan, Lane Swan and Zachary Swan. Internment will be Monday, November 22, 2010 at Spring Hill Cemetery at one o'clock, followed by a gathering for friends and family at South Park Presbyterian Church, 939 South Park Road, Charleston. In lieu or flowers, memorials may be made to South Park Presbyterian Church, Community Outreach, c/o James Sothen, 1108 Timberview Drive, Charleston, WV 25314-2226, or Union Mission Ministries, Inc., P. O. Box 112, Charleston, WV 25321.