Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

March 23, 2023

Thomas Hugh White, Jr. passed away on March 23, 2023.  A Celebration of Life service will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, May 12, 2023 at Southminster, 8919 Park Road, Great Room B, Charlotte, NC 28210, with the Reverend Marty Hedgpeth officiating.  Parking is available at Quail Hollow Presbyterian Church, 8801 Park Road.  The family will receive friends following the service.

Tom was born October 24, 1933, to Thomas H. White and Nellie Plummer White in New York City.  He lived in New York City for 18 years and attended Trinity School from 1939-1951 where he had a stellar career.  At Trinity he was salutatorian of his 1951 graduating class, served as President of the student council, and was a member of the Cum Laude Honor Society.  Athletically Tom achieved many honors, as he won varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball and track, and his junior and senior years rewarded him with City championships in football and basketball.

Tom attended Williams College as a pre-med student and graduated in 1955.  At Williams he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and served as treasurer and steward of the fraternity for two years.  He played freshman football and basketball, one year of varsity football, and three years of varsity basketball.  During Tom's senior year the basketball team only lost one game, and the entire team was elected to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.  

During his senior year at Williams, he met his future bride-to-be, Susan Singiser.  They were married in New York City in August 1956 and thus began their beautiful 65-year marriage.  After Williams, Tom attended Duke University School of Medicine where he was elected President of the second-year class.  He interned at New York Hospital (Cornell) in surgery from July 1959 to July 1960, and then returned to Duke for his Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB-GYN) residency training, finishing in December 1964. While a resident he won the Residents' Prize for a paper on Sarcoma of the Uterus (a 30-year review at Duke Hospital).

Tom started private practice in Charlotte, NC in January 1965 and associated with Dr. John Glover and Dr. Pinkney Rankin for 35 years.  As more doctors joined the practice, they became the Rankin Womens’ Center.  Tom delivered countless babies during his career, including several sets of triplets/quadruplets. He often recalled the joy and happiness of every delivery and never took for granted the miracle of birth.  

During his medical career, Tom  was on staff at Presbyterian and Mercy Hospitals and at the Carolina Medical Center; was part of the American College of OB-GYN and American Board of OB-GYN; was a member of Bayard Carter Society of OB-GYN (and served as President in 1986); and was a member of the Charlotte OB-GYN Society and American Medical Association/North Carolina Medical Society.  Tom was very active at Presbyterian Hospital.  He served as Chief of Staff in 1985 and 1986 and many years as Chairman of the Credential Committee.  He helped form the Bioethics Committee and served as the first Chairman in 1985. 

Tom's love of sports, especially Duke basketball, the NY Yankees, and the NY Giants will be remembered by anyone who knew him.  He also coached little league basketball at the YMCA for seven years and was the number one fan at each of his children's and grandchildren's sport events!  

Tom's deepest love and devotion, however, was always for his wife of 65 years, their three children, and seven grandchildren.  He treasured the times spent with his family, friends, patients and colleagues.  He considered his patients to be his very special friends, as were all the OB-GYN nurses whom he respected immensely and whom assisted him in thousands of deliveries. Tom also loved the times spent at the family's home in Sudbury, Vermont, and summer days at Wrightsville Beach, NC, where the family continues to gather!  

Tom was a member of Christ Church for over 50 years and delivered Friendship Trays for 15 years. He would also enjoy his special group of "coffee" friends who met at the Starbucks at Cotswold, several mornings each week and discussed the world's problems.    

Tom was predeceased by his wife, Sue.  He is survived by his daughter, Nancy White LeDonne, husband, Russell F. LeDonne; his daughter, Melinda White Jones, husband, Robert A. Jones; his son, Thomas Hugh White, Jr., wife, Karen T. White; four grandsons:  Robert A. Jones II, wife, Caroline R. Jones, Christopher S. Jones, wife Alexis S. Jones, Reid T. LeDonne, and Mason F. LeDonne; three granddaughters:  Parker E. White, Madison C. White, and Anna J. High, husband, John (Jack) B. High, Jr.; one great-grandson, Fletcher Thomas Jones, one brother-in-law, Stephen T. Singiser, wife, Ann F. Singiser; three nieces; one grand-niece; and one grand-nephew.

The family wishes to give a special thanks and express their great appreciation to Rachel Johnson, whose love, care, and devotion to Tom never wavered, and to the staff at the Embrace Health Center at Southminster

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Christ Church, 1412 Providence Road, Charlotte, NC 28207 or to the Southminster Foundation, 8919 Park Road, Charlotte, NC 28210.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC; 28204 (704) 641-7606. Online condolences can be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC; 28204 (704) 641-7606. Online condolences can be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.