Olive Ruth White

Olive Ruth (Birney) White, age 87, passed away at her home on May 10th, 2014. She was born to James Earl and Bessie (Auld) Birney, on March 1, 1927 at their home near Tippecanoe, Ohio. She graduated from Uhrichsville High School in 1945 and then Kent State University. She began her teaching career and met James Glen White, whom she married on June 30, 1956. They began their journey together and resided at their home between Deersville and Tippecanoe, where they raised three children.

Olive was very active in the community throughout her life. She taught elementary grades at Uhrichsville, Tippecanoe, and Freeport schools. She was a lifelong member of the Tippecanoe United Methodist Church where she was organist for about 50 years, was very active in the Church, and involved in Sunday School, Bible School, committees, and Church dinners. She was also a member of the United Methodist Women’s Group, Deersville Garden Club, Retired Teachers’ Association, Deersville Quilters, and Grange back in the day.
Olive was always busy with her many activities and hobbies. Gardening, canning, sewing, quilting, cooking, helping family and neighbors, and church dinners were always a priority.

Olive is survived by her children, Oneida Kirschman, Glen White, and Nelson (Dawn) White; and 8 grandchildren, Charlie Kirschman, Chelsea (Brad) Fulton, Catherine (Matt) McGill, Brandon White, Quinn White, Chance White, D.J. White, and Mitchell White. There are also numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her husband, James Glen White in 1999; her parents; two brothers, James and Dwight Birney; and a sister, Dorothy Kidder.

Services for Olive, officiated by Pastors David Koch and Jim McConnell, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 14, in the R.K. Lindsey Funeral Home in Dennison. Interment will follow beside her beloved husband in Deersville’s Patterson Union Cemetery. Family and friends are invited to call at the funeral home from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Tippecanoe United Methodist Church, c/o Carole Burdette, 81900 Fulton Rd., Tippecanoe, OH 44699 and Community Hospice, 716 Commercial Ave. S.W., New Philadelphia, OH 44663.