CharlesWhite

Charles 'Chuck' Weldon White, 85, passed away on Monday, August 19, 2013, in Houston, Tx, following a battle with cancer.  He was the tenth child of William Frank and Myrtle Lee Newell White born on July 28, 1928, in Morris County five miles south of Daingerfield, Tx.  At the age of 1 yr., 8 mos., Chuck's mother passed away, leaving his father-'Papa', older sisters, and brothers to take care of him.  In 1933, Frank White married Daphne Moore, and added another brother to the family.  Growing up during the "Great American Depression," wasn't easy.  His Dad's motto was "eat everything that don't eat you first." Chuck's brothers and cousins enjoyed scouting the countryside for watermelons, or whatever the seasons offered.  It seemed the most important thing was always having something to eat.  Another favorite time was going to the movies.  Mickey Mouse was introduced to the big screen in "Steamboat Willie" in 1928.  Chuck felt a real connection with Shirley Temple who was also born in 1928, and watching her movies brought laughter and hope during a time of struggle and hardship.  This connection remained and in 1956, Chuck named his youngest daughter, Shirley.
  

After delivering telegrams, by bicycle, throughout the Fort Worth area, Chuck joined the Army Air Corps in December of 1945.  Thanks to the Army's decision to put Chuck in the photography department, he discovered a passion for photography and film processing.  After basic training at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Tx, Chuck was sent to take aerial photos of bombed cities throughout Europe.  Later he was stationed in Newfoundland and Greenland.  While in Greenland, the Army assigned Chuck to photograph the entire land mass to be used in the creation of a map of Greenland.  A favorite memory of Chuck's was chopping off the handles of the mess hall spoons to make fishing lures.  He used these lures for salmon fishing.  Chuck received the World War II Veterans Medal and the Army Occupation Medal for Germany.  Returning to Westover Air Force Base in Holyoke, MA, Chuck received an Honorary Discharge from the Air Force in November 1948.  Little did he know Holyoke, MA would return as a milestone in his life with the graduation of his granddaughter, Allison Wren, from Mt. Holyoke College.

Like many service men during World War II, Chuck wrote letters to family back home.  His sister, Annie Mae West, knew the perfect young lady to correspond with her brother.  Georgia Mae Lindsey lived near Annie and Buster West.  Chuck and Georgia's romance began through these letters.
  

After his discharge, Chuck found employment as a film engineer with WBAP-TV, in Fort Worth, which was the first TV station in Texas.  During this time, Georgia was completing her senior year, Class of 1949, at Greenville High School.  On June 5, 1949, Charles and Georgia were married at Liberty Methodist Church, in the Liberty community of Greenville.  Their marriage began in Fort Worth and on September 25, 1950 their first daughter, Georgia Lynn, was born.  In 1951, Chuck received an offer of employment at Southwest Film in Houston, Tx.  Later that year, Chuck moved Georgia and Lynn to Houston.  Down the road from Southwest Film was KPRC-TV, the first TV station in Houston.  Chuck decided he wanted to do more with his knowledge of film processing. In June of 1953, Chuck joined the staff at KPRC-TV, and during the next 40 years played a major role in the film processing of Channel 2's news footage and productions like "The Eyes of Texas".  By the mid 1960's, the networks were broadcasting in color.  In 1966, management at KPRC sent Chuck to NBC Studios in Burbank, CA.  There Chuck learned about color film processing and what was needed to build a color film processing department.  Returning with that knowledge, Chuck built the first television station color lab in Houston.
  

The expected arrival of their second daughter brought the family to their brand new house in Houston’s Spring Branch community on September 25, 1954.  Geneva Ann was born on January 22, 1955.  Twenty-three months later, Shirley Gene was born on December 5, 1956.  With the increasing growth of the Spring Branch area, Chuck, Georgia and the girls became involved in that expansion.
  

The first involvement was finding a church community to strengthen their spiritual development.  Chuck was raised in the Church of Christ and Georgia in the Methodist denomination.  After visiting various churches, Chuck decided to find out more about the different religions.  Close family friends, Bill and Nettie Klein, were Catholic and Chuck attended some classes to discover more about the Catholic faith.  However, after several classes and asking many questions, the priest told Bill that Chuck questioned the Catholic doctrine a little too much and he should seek a Protestant church.  After visiting the newly established Fair Haven Methodist Church, still in its Charter member stage of growth, Chuck and Georgia joined Fair Haven in 1955. From that moment, Chuck became active in church organizations such as Methodist Men, and he served as a member of various committees, especially the land purchase and sanctuary building committee.  Joining the congregation, Chuck and Georgia supported the building of a sanctuary at 1330 Gessner Rd., through the purchase of church bonds.  The land chosen was quite wooded and to help save on expenses, Chuck joined the men in the clearing of the land.  Chuck was a Sunday school teacher and photographer of many of the church's activities, including the first confirmation class.  Being of the same age and with small children, Chuck and Georgia enjoyed a strong friendship with Rev. Bryant Young, the founding minister and his wife, Margie.  However, in the Methodist church, ministers were often transferred to other churches across town or other cities.  When the congregation was told Rev. Young was being transferred, Chuck was ready to follow him to the other church.  However, Rev. Young taught Chuck a life-long lesson and that was, "a church is not the minister but it's strength is in the leadership of the congregation and community of faith, and if Chuck and his family followed him, then he had not done his job in establishing the Fair Haven community."  Chuck remained a supportive and active member until his death.
  

Being an avid photographer, Chuck converted their laundry room into a dark room.  With the ability to process and print his own black and white photos, Chuck began to photograph community activities.  Along with taking pictures of Fair Haven's early years, Chuck also took Spring Branch Little League baseball and football team portraits, wedding pictures, family portraits for friends, and family members. Chuck often spoke of how he used the barter system as a form of payment for his photography services.  One family who enjoyed yearly family portraits was the family dentist.
  

The Spring Branch ISD was continually adding schools year after year, and was rated #1 in the state and nation for it's high academic achievements.  Education was very important to Chuck and Georgia and they encouraged their daughters academically as well as in their extra curricular activities.  Chuck was very proud of the education Lynn, Geneva, and Shirley received.  All three graduated from Spring Woods High School in 1968, 1973 and 1975, respectfully. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, Spring Branch ISD was creating its own production department.  Chuck was hired to work in that department as a part-time employee.
  

Chuck remained faithful to his country roots.  The summer family vacations either began or ended in Daingerfield for a family reunion.  Vacations were camping trips originally taken in a small camper and later in a pop-up tent trailer. With retirement came the travel trailer.  The family enjoyed national parks, amusement parks, and famous locations from east to west.  Chuck always had the knack of finding a Hernando's hide-away.  With each vacation, the girls wondered where Chuck would find that year's hide-away.  The most memorable one was on their 1966 trip to California.  It was getting time to find a camp site for the night and Chuck followed the billboards to a park just outside of Tucson, AZ.  Georgia and the girls became concerned while driving around the park, that there were no other campers.  It was the 4th of July weekend and in Texas all parks are full of campers.  Chuck insisted everything was fine.  The campsite was surrounded by a ridge of cactus.  During the night, Georgia heard an animal, possibly a raccoon, moving the lever to open the underground trash holes.  Things seemed okay in the morning.  However, while driving out of the park, one of the trailer tires got stuck in a dry rocky river bed and after Chuck got it out, that tire went flat.  He made it into a service station in Tucson where the tire was repaired.  Chuck asked why there weren't more campers at the park.  The man said that area was prone to flash floods during this time of year.  Chuck enjoyed getting out of town to fish, whether it was Galveston, Lake Travis, Sam Houston State Park, or Lake Conroe. With the help of a friend, Bill Klein, and nephew, Gene Dale, (who personally dug the deep hole for the septic tank), Chuck built a family cabin and dock.  Many weekends were spent fishing, clearing the land and relaxing.  Family and friends were always welcome to go and enjoy it even if we were not there.
  

After their retirement, Chuck and Georgia traveled to Colorado.  Georgia's oldest sister and husband, Martha and Billy Pope had discovered a campground in Gunnison, CO.  Chuck and Georgia joined them one summer and decided the fishing, cool weather, and beautiful scenery was perfect.  After several years, they decided with their growing family of son-in-laws, grandchildren, great grandchildren and relatives, they needed something larger than a camp trailer.  Chuck and Georgia purchased several acres outside of Gunnison and built a house.  Many wonderful memories have taken place there.
  

After 64 years of marriage, Chuck and Georgia have been blessed in many ways, but they are most thankful for the life-choices of their daughters.  They each married wonderful men and have given them 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.  Lynn married Bobby L. Wren; Geneva, Lee F. Knight; and Shirley, Rick Berry.  Grandchildren are: Allison Wren Higgins; Mary Wren Cangahula; Christopher Wren; Jennifer Knight Rebolledo; Jessica, David, Daniel and Joy Knight; Jennifer Berry Murrill and Justin Berry.  Great-grandchildren are:  Rachel and Chloe Higgins; Vincent Wren; James, Michael and Juliana Rebolledo; Emma, Briley and Caleb Knight; and Charlotte and Annie Murrill. In addition, Chuck leaves behind his sister, Annie Mae West,  numerous nieces, nephews and friends.

Visitation in Houston will be Thursday, August 22, 2013 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Waltrip Funeral Directors, 1415 Campbell Rd., Houston, Tx. 77055.  

Services in Houston will be Friday, August 23, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. at Fair Haven United Methodist Church, 1330 Gessner Rd., Houston, Tx 77055.
  

Visitation in Greenville, Tx will be Saturday, August 24, 2013 at 10 am at Coker-Mathews Funeral Home, 5100 IH-30 at US 69, followed by services at 11 am. Graveside services and interment will follow at Memoryland Memorial Park in Greenville.
  

Pallbearers in Houston are:  Bobby Wren, Lee Knight, Rick Berry, Christopher Wren, David Cangahula, and Ken Ancell.
  

Pallbearers in Greenville are: Joshua Daniel Knight, Gene Dale, Jerry Moore, Walter White, Joe Dale and Tony Dale.