Donald O. White

BARRE – Donald Owen White, 90, of Currier Street passed away on Wednesday, December 21, 2022, at the Barre Gardens.

Born on March 2, 1932, in Lewiston, Maine, he was the son of Owen Joseph and Sara (Tackaberry) White.  Don soon returned to his family’s home in Norwich, Connecticut where he met his big sister, Barbara.  He attended St. Patrick’s Parochial School and graduated from Norwich Free Academy in 1949.  Don attended Yale University and graduated in 1953 with a degree in German.  He received a Fulbright scholarship to study at Heidelberg University in Germany.  There he met Adelheid Hofmann whom he married in 1954. Following their marriage, they came to Yale where Don pursued a master’s degree.

Upon graduation, Don received an invitation to teach at Amherst College, where he remained a professor for 42 years.  He also received a PH. D degree from Yale in German.

He had a distinguished teaching career at Amherst.  Upon his retirement, the Board of Trustees wrote a testimonial letter which reads in part, “In the classroom you are equally at home teaching a poem by Hölderlin or Rilke, relating to the impact of Luther’s Reformation, discussing Weimar modernism and the Bauhaus, and analyzing Arnold Schoenberg’s twelve-tone music as it influenced the narrative art of your beloved Thomas Mann.  For, whenever possible, as a teacher and scholar, you have explored the interrelationship of the arts – and most especially the kinship between your two great loves, poetry and music.”

Throughout his scholarly pursuits, Don, a self-described amateur violist, played professionally throughout Massachusetts.  He was principal violist with the Pioneer Valley Symphony and played in chamber groups for many colleges and universities in the area.  He was a highly sought-after chamber musician.

In 2002 Don met Drusilla Macy at a string quartet workshop in Connecticut.  They married in 2004 and enjoyed 18 years of marriage.  They took many trips and played together in the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra and the Vermont Philharmonic where he was principal violist, then after a shoulder injury, principle second violin, and finally a cellist.  In addition, Don and his wife played chamber music with many friends.

For many years Don worked on a translation of The Island of Second Sight , a German novel by Albert Vigoleis Thelen.  His translation was first published by Galileo Press of Cambridge, England in 2010.  In 2013 it was published in the U.S. by The Overlook Press of New York City for which Don was awarded the PEN Translation prize for 2013 and a Helen and Kurt Wolfe award from the Goethe Institute.  In all, there have been five editions of his award-winning translation.

Survivors include his loving wife, Drusilla Macy of Barre; his son Thomas White and his wife, Janja and granddaughters Alicia and Shannan of Neu-Anspach, Germany; his daughter Ellen Kalt and her husband, Tom and grandson Matthew of Shutesbury, MA; and his grandson Steven and his fiancé Emma Vaimberg of Baltimore, MD; and his son Martin White and his wife, Christine Michael of Salem, NY and grandsons Aditep and Jonathan, as well as great-grandchildren Natasha, Catalina, Storm and Carter; and his daughter Anita Conte and her husband, Joseph and granddaughters Mia and Gabriella of Worcester, MA; his brother-in-law Dr. Alexander Macy and his wife, Kathy of Monroe, IA as well as numerous nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews.

In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his sister Barbara and brother-in-law Ray Murphy and a granddaughter, Isabel.

Don’s son Tom wrote, “I hope my dad will be remembered for his kindness.”

Indeed.

A memorial celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at 11:30 a.m. in the Canadian Club of Barre, 414 East Montpelier Road, Barre, VT.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Vermont Philharmonic, PO Box 425, Montpelier, VT  05602 or to the Aldrich Public Library, 6 Washington Street, Barre, VT  05641.