Priscilla White

MADISON-Priscilla Westcott White, age 95, peacefully passed away on June 8, 2014 in her room at Oakwood Village.

Priscilla was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 1, 1919. After growing up in Oak Park and River Forest, Illinois, she attended Monticello College and graduated from Denison University in 1940. After graduation, Priscilla attended Moser Business College in Chicago and worked for a year as a statistical typist and secretary for a CPA firm in Chicago. She was married to Richard Hiram White, her Denison sweetheart, on September 20, 1941, in River Forest. Priscilla made her home with Dick in Madison Wisconsin, where he was a distributor of business forms for Uarco, Inc. They joyfully raised four children and enjoyed many family trips and vacations throughout the United States. Priscilla and Dick also enjoyed exploring European countries together on many trips after their children were older. Their Door County cottage on the Lake Michigan shore, which they built in 1980, was a place they loved dearly. While residing in Florida from 1984 to 1996, Priscilla and Dick spent summers in Door County. In 1997, they returned to live in Madison. Dick passed away in Madison on February 5, 2004 after 62 years of marriage.

In addition to finding joy and support in her family and her love of travel, Priscilla had a fulfilling life with other important gifts and interests. She was an accomplished pianist and was able to play popular music by ear and transpose songs to singable keys. She enjoyed playing for sing-alongs with fellow residents at Coventry Village and Oakwood Village. Priscilla was trained and certified as a volunteer braillist and transcribed materials into Braille for many years. She enjoyed the French language to enhance long-standing friendships with several French families that hosted them in their travels. Priscilla enjoyed playing tennis until the age of 70 and was a dedicated church member throughout her life, serving as an Elder, singing in the choir and helping with musical programs. One of her biggest challenges in life was to adjust to her loss of vision due to macular degeneration and find activities that could replace those dependent on sight. In later years, she became an avid sports fan, enjoying tennis tournaments on TV, and cheering for her local Wisconsin teams, the Brewers, the Badgers and the Packers and watching or listening to many of their games in her room. She also belonged to a book club at her residence and enjoyed a new audio book every two weeks, reading more than any other time in her life.

Memberships of special meaning to Priscilla were the Volunteer Braillists and Tapists of Madison, Euterpe (musical performing group), Westminster Presbyterian Church, Delta Gamma Fraternity, Delta Omicron (international musical fraternity), and her part as a loyal alumna of Denison University.

Priscilla was preceded in death by her parents, Ralph Wells Westcott and Dorothy Richardson Westcott, her sister Ruth Westcott Canham, and her husband Richard Hiram White. She is survived by her younger sister, Jean Webster of Aurora, Colorado. Priscilla is also survived by her four children: Richard Denis (Anne) of Corvallis, Oregon; Westcott (Suzy) of Aledo, Illinois; Marcia Stockton (Robert) of Madison, Wisconsin; and Charles (Theresa) of Madison, Wisconsin. She is also survived by ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren: Gregory (Joan), Jessica and Dorothy (children of Denis); Father Gregory, Jeffrey (Kristin), Father Gabriele, and Adam (Jennifer and daughters Allison and Jillian) (children/grandchildren of Westcott); Nicole Ramos(Gerardo) and Kristin (children of Marcia); and Velette (child of Charles).
Many thanks to the dedicated care from the staff of Tabor Oaks Assisted Living at Oakwood Village and Agrace Hospice Care in her last chapter of life. A Memorial Service will be held at the RESURRECTION CHAPEL AT OAKWOOD VILLAGE, 6901 Mineral Point Road, Madison, on Saturday, July 5 at 3 PM, with a reception to follow. Memorials may be made to Oakwood Foundation Inc or Westminster Presbyterian Church.