Lorne White

Lorne was born the 12th of 13 children to the black Baptist pastor, Captain Dr. William Andrew White and Izie Dora White, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. From early on, Lorne was singing with his brothers and sisters. Dr. White had one of the first national radio broadcasts in Canada, and Lorne and his brothers and sisters made up the choir at church, and provided the music for the broadcasts. His older sister Portia became the first black Canadian singer to become an international singing star and performed for Queen Elizabeth II and in the Town Hall in New York city. Lorne and his youngest sister, Yvonne, often sang together throughout their lives and were well known and loved in the Maritime Provinces in Canada. They were also part of the cast of "Porgie and Bess" during the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Lorne became nationally known by being on the summer replacement show for Don Messer's Jubilee, "Singalong Jubilee", where Anne Murray was discovered. He was the only member to be on all 13 seasons, and in all that time, he only missed one show. He was a chorus member, soloist and also part of the trio, ironically called "The Dropouts", since his "day job"/vocation was that of phys ed teacher and later, Vice Principal at Bloomfield Elementary & Jr High School. Performing musically easily led to acting and Lorne was in many productions, most notably, "Showboat", at the Kipaowo Showboat Theatre Company in Wolfville, NS, in which he played Joe and sang the iconic song, "Ol' Man River". Lorne and his family, wife A. Mary (Hennigar) White, daughters, Holly (White) Roddam, Shelly (White) Price and Lee (White) Case, along with sister, Yvonne White, performed in concert as "The White Family" for 9 years in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island until the Roddams moved out west. But Lorne and Yvonne were still singing and performing until their deaths in 2008. The last time Yvonne sang was at Lorne's funeral, where, with the Anne Murray and the cast of Singalong Jubilee and the White Family, they sang the Negro Spiritual that had been part of both Singalong and the White Family's repertoire, "Live A Humble". Lorne had been asked to speak to the elementary school near his house the week before he went to Texas where he died. He spoke to the children about having people in your life who open doors for you, and how they could be door openers for others. He sang on that last occasion, "Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this Place." Lorne was well known for his strong Christian faith, and was a mentor and inspiration to many.