Stephen John White
It is with profound sorrow that our family announces the loss of our beloved Stephen. Stephen John White was born on February 5, 1983; he left this world on March 21, 2021, at the age of 38, from complications following heart surgery.
Stephen’s life story was defined very much by his love of learning; education was always for him both a path and a destination. Over the last decade, it inspired and developed his thoughtful probing into the essential topics of responsibility and morality. He benefited from so many skillful and devoted teachers and mentors, ultimately joining their ranks at the highest level. He was a member of the Albuquerque Academy class of 2001, Pomona class of 2005, and received his Ph.D. in philosophy from UCLA in 2012, with an emphasis in moral philosophy and ethics. From there he was elated to be asked to join the philosophy department at Northwestern University in Chicago and was an associate professor at the time of his death. His engagement with his students was very important and meaningful to him. In 2019, Stephen was awarded a oneyear Rockefeller Fellowship at the Princeton University Center for the Study of Human Values, a beneficence which he deeply appreciated. His Northwestern colleagues write that Stephen’s career, though tragically shortened, is rich with accomplishment and honors, notably having written an article which was designated as one of the top ten best philosophy papers published in 2017. “Most fundamentally, Professor White was a penetrating and generous philosopher who wanted to devote all of his skill and effort to important, and yet very specific, questions about how to best live one’s life.”
Both before and beyond his academic journey, the great enjoyment Stephen took in relationships was defining. His friendships ran deep, with shared pleasure in discussing both the brilliance and the absurdities of life. He was very funny, with conversations often going long into the night. As a good, red-headed Irishman, he loved a leisurely meal with friends and had a hollow leg. Stephen richly enjoyed the pleasures of great music, both as a listener and a gifted guitar player. This was a source of deep pleasure every single day.
The bonds of family included this same essence of friendship, blending loyalty, good humor, and love into an irreplaceable lighthearted connection with each of us. Stephen was the devoted and loving husband of Jessica Lake and the enchanted father of Lucy Noriko White. The ease with which he stepped into fatherhood was charming. Together with Jessica, Lucy’s arrival created the perfect trio. Stephen was the oldest son of Blake White and Martha Carmody, always beloved, and the older, esteemed brother of Connor White and Kevin White. Also surviving him are his grandmother Margaret Carmody, great-aunt Martha MacDonald, uncle Jack Carmody, aunt Sheila Hudson, sister-in-law Annabeth White (and baby Hazel), parents-in-law Roger and Noriko Lake and their daughter, Jennifer, and cousins Stephanie Rogers, Sarah Austin, Robert Carmody, and Susan Carmody, along with their families.
Stephen was kind, gentle, often amused, incisive, patient, and brilliant. He had the capacity to live his life consistent with his most important values and, as such, he had inner happiness. To remember him is a lesson and a blessing – a gift we’ll carry tenderly all of our days.
A memorial ceremony is planned for June 5, 2021, at the Northwestern University Alice Millar Chapel in Evanston, Illinois, with remote viewing to be made available.