Warren Ragan White
July 17, 1921 - October 6, 2017
Warren Ragan White died peacefully in San Francisco on October 6, 2017 at the age of 96. A life long resident of the City, he graduated from St. Ignatius College Preparatory in 1939, received both his Bachelor’s Degree and his Master’s Degree from the University of San Francisco in 1943 and 1956, respectively.
After graduation in 1943, Warren was inducted into the U. S. Army, serving at Fort Ord in California and Fort Hood, Texas. He was discharged in 1946 and returned to San Francisco and started his career in education. He taught English and journalism at St. Ignatius, where he remained for 9 years. He is named as one of the “Three Great” teachers at St. Ignatius in the book “Spiritus ‘Magis’,”celebrating the first 150 years of the school.
In 1955, Warren’s career took him to City College of San Francisco, where he started as an assistant professor of English, moving into administration and retired in 1985 - after serving as Acting President. As an administrator, he took great pride in expanding the day and evening classes offered by CCSF to locations throughout the City of San Francisco. He was an advocate for the Art Department at CCSF, and was an instrumental part of the leadership team which brought about the restoration of both the Diego Rivera Mural and the iconic Dudley Carter Ram statue on the main CCSF campus.
In his early retirement years, Warren served on the boards of several institutions, including The ARC San Francisco and the San Francisco Education Fund. He was a long time morning coffee regular at the Peet’s on West Portal Avenue, and for many years enjoyed the Thursday lunch and speaker program at Il Cenacola - the Italian Cultural Club. He was an avid reader, a natty dresser and a great conversationalist.
Warren is survived by his son Timothy J. White and daughter-in-law Maria Wong White of El Dorado Hills, CA., his daughter Noël White McLaughlin and son-in-law John McLaughlin of Santa Rosa, CA., his grandsons Jack and Aidan McLaughlin, and cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Loretto Roger White, his son William Roger White, his parents Sherman A. White and Gladys Ragan White, and his brothers S. Alan White and Donald K. White.
The family would like to acknowledge and thank the following: the personal caregivers from MeliCor Sonny, Allan, Joel, Michael and many others, for the exceptional care and attention Warren received from them over the past several years, the staff at Alma Via San Francisco, and the VITAS team who assisted in Warren’s care during his last months in hospice.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his name can be made to either the Class of 1951, Warren Ragan White Scholarship Fund, c/o St. Ignatius College Preparatory, 2001 37th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94116, or to The ARC San Francisco, 1500 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
A joint Memorial Mass for Warren R. White and Loretto R. White will be held on Friday, November 3, 2017 at 10:30am at St. Ignatius Church, at the corner of Fulton and Parker Streets in San Francisco, with a Celebration of Life Reception to immediately follow in the Marschi Room at the Fromm Institute on the USF Campus