Richard Bowen White

Richard White Obituary
It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our friend and colleague, Richard Bowen White of Willimantic, Connecticut. “Dickie” passed away peacefully on Friday, May 24, 2024.

Dick was born in 1946 and lived in Willimantic with his parents, Jeanette Bowen White and George White. His parents both worked for the University of Connecticut, his father as a mechanic, and his mother, as a librarian. Dick's grandfather was Dean of the Agricultural School at UConn for many years.

Dick graduated from Windham High School where he met his wife, Deborah. He joined the United States Air Force in 1966, and was stationed in Germany, where he worked in the photo lab processing film. After Dick and Debbie were married, Debbie traveled with him to Germany where the couple lived off-base for four years. Sometime after returning to the states, Debbie and Dick parted ways and Dick moved to California. Ultimately, Dick decided to move back to the east coast to continue his education.

Dick enrolled at The Art Institute of Pittsburg in 1975, in pursuit of a degree in Graphic Arts. After graduating in 1977, he moved back to Connecticut and took a job as a graphic artist with a printing business in Windsor Locks, creating flyers for grocery stores in the area. It was his next job that Dick chose to make his life-long career. Dick joined The Reminder News weekly newspapers in Vernon, CT as a graphic artist where he worked for 35 years. He was a valued member of a team of salespeople and artists whose hard work made the newspapers a success. In April of 2014, when the newspaper group was purchased by the Hartford Courant, Dick decided to retire.

Sadly, Dick had lost all his family over the years, so his treasured friends became like family to him; friends from his childhood in Willimantic, the years he’d spent in California and Pennsylvania, the roommates he stayed in touch with, and his many friends from the newspaper who became lifelong friends.

Dick had especially close relationships with Candice Rose Lichty of Yorktown Heights, New York, Pam Shaffer (who predeceased him) and her daughter Melissa, of Mansfield, CT. They were all incredibly loving and supportive to Dick and they meant the world to him. Dick also had close friendships with his “girls” from The Reminder News (Caroline, Libby, Priscilla, Betsy, Katie, and Patty). The friendships they shared with him were filled with 35 years of laughter and many years of support as his health was declining in recent years.

Rather than a formal wake, he has asked that his friends gather and drink a toast to him, celebrate his life, and share memories of the good times we all shared with him. If you’d like to be notified about the future gathering, please email Libby at LibbyLord1@gmail.com or Priscilla at Cillyhopkins@yahoo.com by June 10.


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