Aunt & Uncle of Gretna La.
Submitted by:	N.O.V.A. April 2005
Source:  	Times Picayune 06-21-1990

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Not every town has an adopted aunt and uncle like
Gretna's Aunt Helen and Uncle Dick White.

In an era when couples no longer honor lifetime
commitments, theirs was an enduring marriage of
65 years.

Like two lovebirds, Dick called Helen "Tweetie"
and she called him "Tweet."

On every wedding anniversary, Dick sent Helen 16
long-stemmed red roses to commemorate her age
when she became his sweetheart. He deviated once,
with yellow roses on their 50th anniversary,
which they celebrated with a dinner dance for 500
friends at the Fairmont Hotel.

As a banker, White dealt daily in millions, but
he vowed that the smartest decision he ever made
was to marry Helen.

William Richard "Dick" White, 89, died June 1,
two days before his 73rd anniversary at the First
National Bank of Jefferson, where he began his
career at 16 as an office boy and worked his way
up to president. Upon his retirement at 82, White
became chairman emeritus of FNJ.

People of all ages, black and white, rich and
poor, came to say goodbye to a man who had
enriched their lives in one way or another, often
through friendship and good humor.

Julia Marshall, who has worked for the Whites for
32 years and has been more like a family member,
recalled the day she interviewed for the job.

She said she dressed up to make a good
impression, and that after the interview, Dick
told Helen: "Tweetie, I think we're going to like
Julia, but I can't abide by that red wig. Julia
can stay, but the wig has to go."

Many said Uncle Dick was like a father to them.

My father, who died when I was 9, was his boyhood
friend. Aunt Helen and Uncle Dick faithfully
stood by, attending life's special moments at
christenings, confirmations, graduations,
marriages and funerals. The two of them would
offer me a glass of sherry when I visited as a
teen-ager, and made me feel grown up.

When my children were young, and my husband took
our only car to work, Uncle Dick gave me wheels -
a red wagon. I piled in my babies, and we did the
town, often rolling through FNJ. A skilled
magician, Uncle Dick kept generations of Gretna
children laughing.

There wasn't a more civic-minded man than White,
and listing all his accomplishments doesn't tell
the human side of the story. A 70-year member of
the American Red Cross, Uncle Dick gave blood
regularly until they stopped him because of his
age.

A lifelong Lutheran, White's deep faith
transcended denominations; he was ecumenical. At
his wake, retired Archbishop Philip Hannan
described him as a community builder who used his
gifts to serve people in Gretna and Jefferson
Parish.

Uncle Dick and Aunt Helen gave to good causes,
including a $150,000 gift to Wynhoven Center for
the elderly in Marrero.

Many friends recalled the good times that passed
between them, as humor and wit were Uncle Dick's
trademarks.

Ben Weiner, a New Orleans businessman and fellow
Rotarian, recalled their weekly bets on college
football that spanned 40 years, regardless of
place.

"We never missed a week," Weiner said. "The one
who was out of town called New Orleans: I called
him from Rome; he called me from Paris."

Like his brother, William J. White, Gretna mayor
for 36 years, Dick's first name was also William.
He never tired of telling the story of how his
mother named both her sons after their father.

It was a tribute to his greatness that 600 people
came to his wake and waited in line to pay their
respects to his widow. And Helen, a delicate
beauty at 86, had something to say to each of
them.

When Helen expressed surprise that she outlived
her husband, Beverly Weigel Schieman, who grew up
next door, said Dick had gone ahead to get things
organized and will have all of heaven singing
"Let me call you sweetheart" when Helen arrives.

Even in death, White was true to his friends. His
tomb in the Hook and Ladder Cemetery lies next to
Elmer and Floy Weigel's, his neighbors in life.

White, born in 1901, was 11 years short of seeing
out the full century. He played a powerful role
in Gretna's Golden Age of expansion, and was as
much an institution as we'll ever know.

It was natural, then, that folks came to wish him
well on his journey to heaven.