‘A handyman’s handyman’
Retired Marine Auzie White credits the Corps for his work ethic; his fellow church members credit him with service above and beyond the call of duty.
“He is a handyman’s handyman. Some of us are jacks of all trades and master of none,
while Auzie is a jack of all trades and master of most.”
—Kevin Myers, pastor
Fellow church members say Auzie White is always willing to lend a helping hand
Auzie White finds satisfaction in work welldone. “I learned the value of work growing up on a farm,” he said.
And he credits his years in the Marine Corps for his work habits of being thorough, paying attention to details and being the best he could be.
“It has carried me through life,” he said.
On his 80th birthday recently, 112 people gathered at Highland Park Baptist Church to celebrate White’s life. Every person present could have spoken at length about White’s willingness to assist them when they needed help.
“He is a handyman’s handyman,” said Kevin Myers, White’s pastor. “Some of us are jacks of all trades and master of none, while Auzie is a jack of all trades and master of most. ... No elderly member of our congregation has a leaking faucet, running commode, patch-needing roof, stuck window, squeaky door or porch that needs painting for long. Auzie is on it.”
Myers said White once drove 30 miles to mow a widow’s yard.
One participant at the birthday celebration said, “Auzie is one of those amazing men who, I believe, can do just about anything—and do it right. He proved that as a gunnery sergeant in the Marines. ‘Gunny’ does it all. ... And he takes emergencies in stride. One day at high noon, we had an attempted break-in at our house. The wouldbe burglar knocked out a glass panel in a door but got frightened away. I called the police. Then I called Auzie. Auzie fixed the damage and secured the house.”
White said he got his priorities straight when he was about 40 years old and heard a minister preach on tithing. After the sermon, he and his late wife, Delta, decided to start tithing.
“My wife and I put in our tithes the next Sunday,” he said. At that time, he had already retired after 20 years in the Marine Corps. The day after he tithed for the first time, he received an unexpected check from the military for $480.
“That opened my eyes. It taught me to put the Lord first, family next, church next and then my work. If you live in that order, God will take care of you.”
White remembered being in the Marines 10 years earlier and complaining about not getting paid enough and another soldier asking him, “Sarge, do you tithe?” White laughed as he admitted, “It took me 10 years longer to learn to tithe.”
White grew up on a farm near Ladonia, Texas. In 1949, he graduated from high school and joined the Marine Corps.
“I was a kid off the farm when I joined the Marines, and I served 20 years,” he said. White fought in Korea and Vietnam—13 months in each country.
In 1957, White was sent to Texarkana as a gunnery sergeant to train soldiers in the Reserves, and here he met and married a Texarkana girl, Delta Smith, daughter of local bus driver M.J. Smith. After retiring from the Marines in 1969, White and Delta settled in Texarkana. White said he liked Texarkana because he learned to water ski at Wright Patman Lake, and he liked to fish there. After military retirement, White worked in industrial sales for various Texarkana companies, retiring for the second time in 1993. It took him several years, but while earning a living, White also earned a degree in business administration from Texarkana College and East Texas State University, graduating in 1979.
After 45 years of marriage, White lost Delta. During her battle with cancer, Myers became their pastor.
“Almost immediately, the stories and testimonies of their life and service to our church family started to pour into my office and heart,” Myers said.
Myers learned that Auzie and Delta had always been willing to help and care for others. Now, in their hour of need, the church rallied around them.
In 2008, White married Highland Park Church member Glenda Jones Seymour. They have continued a ministry of service to others. White serves as an assistant church treasurer and teaches an older men’s Sunday school class. He said he has taught other classes, but his current one is his favorite.
When the interior of the church was in need of remodeling, White’s construction talents were put to good use.
“There were many individuals who helped in this endeavor, but none more faithfully than Auzie White,” Myers said. “He was here all the time, and honestly, the young pastor would have to beg Auzie to leave so the young pastor could go home and rest. I was so glad when the Lord sent a man named Larry Meredith to our church. We turned him and Auzie loose, and 55,000 square feet of old building became their playground.”
Myers added, “Auzie is very consistent in his work and dress. His work clothes are blue overalls, light blue work shirt and baby blue fishing cap that I doubt was ever used for fishing. He has a tool for every job and from every decade.”
Myers describes White as a servant-minded man who has never changed.
“Auzie White is my friend. He respects and loves me as his pastor. His support for me is remarkable, considering his wisdom far exceeds any I may possess. However, the greatest thing I can say about Auzie White is this: if God had granted me a son, I would have wanted him to be more like Auzie White than like me. Auzie is one of my heroes.”
White said his plans for the future are to keep working, keep enjoying life, keep visiting friends and travel from time to time. He has never forgotten the advice from a doctor who once told him, “A body in motion stays in motion.”
White has always been “a body in motion.” In addition to all his other activities, he and Glenda work out at a local gym five days a week.
“He’s a man for all seasons,” said an appreciative friend at White’s birthday party. “In the Old West, one of the best things you could say about a man was, ‘He’s a good man to ride the river with.’ Good company. Reliable. Dependable. Auzie White is that esteemed man whom I’m privileged to call my friend, and with whom, on a moment’s notice, I wouldn’t hesitate to ride the river.”