Terry L. White

Terry Louise White

January 19, 1945 –September 4, 2024

Terry Louise White, wandering minstrel, renaissance woman, prolific artist, and writer, danced her way into her next great adventure on September 4, 2024, in Cambridge, MD. Born on January 19, 1945, in Schenectady, NY, she was one of eight children of Robert and Hazel (Terry) White raised on a tenant farm in the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania. 

Losing her mother at age five to polio, she experienced a childhood that offered little by way of creature comforts but much room for experimentation. She found expression and attention in artistic pursuits. Terry always dreamed of being a writer, making up songs and stories to amuse her siblings. She bravely endured copious amounts of nasty rice pudding to learn needlework from local elderly women later incorporated into her Zen patch art and the occasional itchy scarf.

On her own, after graduating high school, she bought a guitar and taught herself to play. This led to a long association and love affair with music and numerous original compositions. When she noticed the beauty of beadwork that awakened her Mohawk heritage, she made and sold jewelry from handmade beads and semiprecious stones. She sang and sold her wares at local festivals to make ends meet. Terry didn’t believe in excuses - “Having few resources or little money is no excuse for not being an artist. The materials are here, there, and in one’s heart.”

Before college, Ms. White worked blue collar jobs as a chambermaid and a waitress. Never one to back down from a challenge, Terry worked her way through Skidmore College in her forties. Her degree in American Studies laid the groundwork for her historical novels that illuminated the life of heroines born to adversity. 

Always busy, she also played bass in a bluegrass band on weekends, served as president of the Adirondack Fiddlers, collected folk music for the International Fiddler's Hall of Fame in Osceola, NY and served as the band's leader and grants-writer. Furthermore, she served on the board of directors of the New York Folklore Society and worked for local papers. During this period, she also happily unloaded two no good husbands.

Midlife, she found herself in Cambridge located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and worked as a reporter for the Daily Banner. This land inspired her Chesapeake Heritage novels as well as her poetry spotlighting the watermen's culture and the fearless Harriet Tubman. Terry received a number of Editor's Choice awards from literary magazines along with several awards for excellence in journalism. On her inspiration Terry always noted, "It is all about the people. People want to be heard and I’m a good listener.”

Terry was additionally involved in public relations and event planning for the Dorchester Center of the Arts and for Pleasant Day Medical Adult Day Care Center where she successfully wrote grants to fund patient needs and directed large events. She was an active member of the Wednesday Morning Artists group, attending weekly meetings up until her last days. 

She had a lifelong love affair with dates, dark chocolate, coffee, and PBS. For special occasions, her specialty was a block of cream cheese covered in a jar of orange marmalade sprinkled with pine nuts. She understood that we all needed and excuse to eat a block of cream cheese. On fashion, the world was her catwalk. Her signature everyday look was boldly patterned thrifted chic (preferably with stretch) along with a pair of well-loved Minnetonka’s. She shunned new clothes as lacking history, and she hated bras. 

Terry never met a stranger. She enjoyed meeting and talking to everyone. Later years often found her on her beloved West End porch strumming her guitar in her rocker, serenading passerby.

She was predeceased by her younger brother Guy White in June 2024 whom she adored. She is survived by her six siblings: Nita Preddice, Doreen White, Raymond White, Linda Carruth, and Roberta White and one son Sean Halleran. Additionally, she is survived by “Nieces” Donise Cameron Dukes (husband Greg and her flower nieces Violet and Iris), Sherry Adibi (husband Clyde and niece Serena Dunhart), Lyle Cameron Jr. (fiancée Dee Hurley and children Bayne and Koby) and Lyle Cameron Sr., her ex-boyfriend of 25 years past who was at her beck and call and even though it didn’t work out she adopted his family anyway and became a stalwart at all major holidays . She also leaves behind an adopted family of beloved artists and friends including Robert Gladney, Annie Watts, Nancy Snyder, Sue Lester, Ann Foley, Arline Chase, Sandy Saunders, Rita Foote and others too numerous to list but not forgotten.

Her friends and family would like to recognize the staff from Autumn Lake Healthcare at Chesapeake Woods who took great care of her, especially her speech therapist and confidant, Caitlin Davis. We will all forever cherish the memories of her infectious laughter, her boundless creativity, and her unwavering kindness.

In lieu of flowers, she asks you to donate to the Dorchester Center for the Arts or The Harriet Tubman Organization as she was active in and proud of both organizations. If your duckets be few, she hopes you perform an unsolicited act of kindness for in her name.

Finally, Terry wants to remind you look for the bluebirds and have a beautiful day. She was happy to have been here. A Tribute to Terry and open mic and artist event will be held at the Dorchester Center for the Arts on Monday, October 14, 2024, from 5-7 pm.