Obit of White, Thurman James Ambrose - Cleveland County, Oklahoma Transcribed by: D J Watson 17 Aug 2008 Return to Cleveland County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/cleveland/cleveland.html ===================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ===================================================================== ::NOT LISTED The Norman Transcript November 06, 2007 12:00 am Thurman James Ambrose White "The greatest use of life is to spend it on something that will outlive it" Thurman James Ambrose White, beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather joined his adored wife Corrine in eternity on All Saints' Day Thursday, the first of November. While Thurman would have been 91 years old on the seventh of November, his family believes that Corrine, a faithful Episcopalian, asked that he wait no longer and join her early on a most cherished day. Thurman was from a pioneer family which entered Oklahoma on the run for the Cherokee Strip 1893, staked a claim and never looked back. His journey through life started in a rented farmhouse without indoor plumbing and ended with international acknowledgment of his impact on higher education. Thurman's personal pioneer frontier was adult education and life long learning. His dedication to cultivating and enriching that frontier never faltered and his passion for the benefits that such an education could provided to the non-traditional student was an absorbing adventure which he ardently pursued. Thurman was born in Autwine Oklahoma to Winona Faye Enfield White and Charles Leroy White, parents who believed that education was a most noble goal for their five children. Thurman began his schooling in a one room country school which included the first through the eighth grade. Because his desk was directly in front of the teacher's most likely to keep him out of mischief, instead, he paid attention. When his family moved to Blackwell, at the age of 10, Thurman tested out of the fourth, fifth and sixth grades. Consequently, he entered college at age 15. However, college attendance was a new experience for any member of the White household, as neither of his parents had finished high school. But the love for learning they instilled in Thurman has passed to his children and grandchildren, all of whom share his belief that learning is a lifelong endeavor. Thurman's parents, 'Tubby' and 'Papa Dick' would be thrilled. Thurman went to Phillips University in Enid on a music scholarship by playing the French horn. He augmented the scholarship by conducting the Phillips Orchestra and serving as a busboy at the school cafeteria, where he met his destiny in Laura 'Corrine' Hartson from Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. She would become his wife and life partner for 61 years. He graduated after four years with a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Education. Immediately after he graduated from Phillips, Thurman hitch-hiked to Norman and enrolled in the University of Oklahoma's graduate college. About halfway through the program, he accepted a job in OU's extension division as an instructor in prison education which involved creating a new school inside the walls of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. He and Corrine married on June 13, 1939 and moved to McAlester. Corrine always said that it made for a most interesting introduction to married life. When the United States entered World War II, Thurman was transferred by the Extension division to the statewide Museum project, funded by the WPA. In addition, he was assigned the Department of Short Courses and the Audio Visual Library service. Concurrently, he completed his Master's of Science in Psychology. His thesis centered upon how the attitudes of adult prisoners were developed and how they altered in an educational environment. Thurman maintained that what he learned at McAlester served him well in every kind of situation and with every type of individual he encountered, until the day he died. Thurman then volunteered and joined the Marine Corps Fifth Division, remembered for its participation at Iwo Jima. After World War II, Thurman returned to the OU Extension Division and decided to combine the use the GI Bill with a scholarship from the Encyclopedia Britannic to pursue a PHD in Adult Education at the University of Chicago, which was a new and innovative degree. His major professor was the first doctorate holder of the future-focused degree, Cyril O. Houle. Thurman became the second. Having obtained his doctorate, Thurman returned to OU's Extension division, this time as Director. It was here he chose to remain in an administrative capacity until his retirement, although the title and the programs changed. He retired as Vice President for Continuing Education. All in all, Thurman spent 43 years with the University of Oklahoma's Continuing Education effort. During these 43 years, through Thurman's insight, creativity and passion and in combination with the thoughtful and caring professionalism of a superb faculty and staff and unwavering support of the administrations, significant and innovative professional programs in higher education were established, which enjoyed international recognition. Four of these programs which continue today are: 1) the Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education which is unique as a contribution to the theoretical base of Adult Education expressed through architectural design; 2) the Bachelor of Liberal Studies, a special degree for people with the responsibilities of maturity. It was designed to provide a well balanced liberal arts experience without the concern for traditional semester or quarterly credit hours; 3) the Advanced Program, a program that adapts traditional graduate courses to the Continuing Education format and is particularly popular with Armed Forces and Civil Service employees stationed around the world and; 4) the Southwest Center for Human Relation Studies, was created to aid in the solution of problems in the integration of minorities in the schools of Oklahoma. During this time, Thurman practiced his belief that a professional owed more than simply annual dues to professional associations. He served a President of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education and as President of the National University Continuing Education Association. For ten years, he edited the Adult Education Journal. He also served on the UNESCO International Committee for the Advancement of Adult Education, the President's National Advisory Council on Extension and Continuing Education, the Board of Directors of the Great Books Foundation and the Department of Defense Advisory Committee on Education in the Armed Forces. After his retirement from OU, Thurman went to work for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. While there, he wrote and negotiated a grant from the WK Kellogg Foundation, which served to create a statewide coordinated program of continuing education and included a network of all 27 institutions of higher learning in Oklahoma. This program was created due to his childhood experience of relative isolation in a small rural community, a hunger for knowledge, the rise of electronic and computer technology and the ability to erase distance and time between students and their instructors. For his work, Thurman was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame and the International Hall of Fame for Adult and Continuing Education. His most treasured honors were the three times the University of Oklahoma said "Well done." He was awarded OU's Distinguished Service Citation; the Forum Building at Oklahoma College of Continuing Education was named the Thurman J. White Forum building and then he received the honor of have a Doctor of Humane Letters, conferred on him by David L. Boren. This, the same day his grandson, James Devon Hyde, earned his undergraduate degree from OU as well. He found his calling in service as a constant beacon on the global horizon of adult education. Waiting to embrace Thurman in eternity are Corrine, his parents, Winona and Dick, his brother Harold and his wife Bonnie, and Leonard's wife, Frances. He is survived by his daughter and son-in- law, Sue Ann and Dudley Hyde and their children, Corey (Thurman's 'Panama Princess') and her husband Mike Blake, and Devon Hyde; and son Charley and Saundra White, their children and spouses, Christopher Huddleston, Kim and Sean Braddy, Ken and Brandy Foss and Carol and Brandy Dean and the eight great grandchildren they have brought to the family, Harrison, Connor, Mason, Cailey, Myriah, Kenadee, Carlee Sue, Dyland, and Jillian, (Thurman's 'Special Princess') Tuesday Fox. Thurman is also survived by his sister, Arlene James, and his brothers, Leonard White and Charles White and his wife Pat, as well as their children and grandchildren, and a host of loving cousins. Naturally, Thurman's wish is that memorials be designated for the University of Oklahoma Foundation's Continuing Education and Public Service Fund and sent to the University of Oklahoma Foundation, 100 Timberdell Road, Norman, OK 73019.?A Memorial Celebration of Thurman's life will be held on Friday, December 7 at 1 pm in the Thurman J. White Forum building on the campus of the Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education, 1704 Asp Ave. in Norman. A reception will follow immediately after the celebration. As his family, we would be honored to have his friends and colleagues join us. Submitted by family --------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Cleveland County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/cleveland/cleveland.html