Jean F. White

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University of California| Berkeley

Jean White Obituary

Jean F. White Jean F. White, longtime Palo Alto teacher passed away Nov 11th after a long illness. Native of Nebraska, Jean graduated from UC Berkeley. She started teaching in 1952 in So. Calif and came to Palo Alto in 1958. She started at Jordan JH then to Terman JH when it opened in 1958 and taught there until it closed in 1978. She taught at Wilbur JH until retirement in 1986. At Terman she was the head of the English and later the Social Studies dept. She retired in 1986. During her tenure at Terman she was instrumental in bringing American Political Behavior and History & geography of the Bay area to the PAUSD middle school curriculum. Her students and fellow teachers as an innovator and a mentor remember her long after her retirement. Jean White was buried in Ashland, Nebraska.

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Published by San Jose Mercury News on Nov. 23, 2008.

Memories and Condolences
for Jean White

6 Entries

Squire (Skip) Knowles

August 14, 2019

Miss White was, quite simply, that wonderful teacher and person you never forget. And if you hear someone describing the one or two teachers that made a real difference in their life, in my case you'd be talking about Miss White.

Diane DeBell Stegmaier

December 14, 2008

Miss White always wrote the date on the blackboard with a comment about the Peanuts comic strip. She had a wonderful sense of humor. I wish I had kept the hand-out she created for our study of the Fertile Crescent, illustrated with stick figures. There was one labeled "Mother is cooking a roast." She cared about what we had to say in our essays in English class. One grade was for content, with a line drawn and another grade under it for mechanics. I remember so much of what she taught us. I hoped my sons would sometime have a teacher like her, but it never happened. I can still picture her, carrying a heavy load of papers to grade, her hair style, her straight skirts. She was the best. Rest in peace, Miss White.

Thomasin Frankel Saxe

December 13, 2008

Miss White was simply the best teacher I've ever had. I was in her 7th and 8th grade classes at Terman Junior High School in Palo Alto, CA, I believe 1960-62. I met my dear friend Diane DeBell in those classes and can never forget the brilliance of our fellow student John Badenhop, who also writes here. Miss White was Dianne's and my idol. We practically stalked her and created very imaginary personal stories about her. She was instrumental in teaching me writing skills and grammar and punctuation in profound ways. I remember savoring her every red mark and especially the comment, in red, "Cut it till it bleeds." While her passion was history (never mine), I revered her for that. I adored her, feared her, and was inspired by her. I could go on and on. No other teacher, and there have been many, had such a positive and intelligent effect on me. She was quite literally THE BEST.

Ainslie Baldwin

December 5, 2008

I taught social studies in Palo Alto for ten years with Jean White as my department chairman. She became my surrogate mother when I was 24 and my mother died. I benefited from her generosity and kindness to me outside the classroom from 1964-2008. She was an extraordinary teacher, department chairman and counselor. There will be a memorial service for Jean at the Terman Library in Palo Alto December 14th 3-5 p.m.

Helen Thomson

November 25, 2008

I never met Jean personally. She was a long-lost cousin from the States. The family had not made contact for more than 100 years, since my grandparents came to South America as missionaries. She was very nice and affectionate on the phone. May she rest in peace.

John Badenhop

November 25, 2008

I attended Miss White's English and Social Studies classes during my 7th and 8th Grade years from Fall 1960 to Spring 1962 at Terman Jr. High in Palo Alto, California. Miss White both encouraged/fostered my interest in Ancient and Medieval History while tolerating my difficult personality. She always addresed individuals and groups as moral and intellectual equals, even when in sharp disagreement.
In Spring 1978, just in time before Terman closed, I went and found Miss White still teaching there. I did my best to express the gratitude I will always feel towards her. She introduced me to her current class, who just could'nt believe that I was ever as young as they... I always wanted to see Miss White again...

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