Richard Harold White

Richard Harold White died May 24. He was 89.

White was born in Salem, Oregon, on Nov. 9, 1934, to Laverne and Pauline White. He worked summers when he was 15 and 16 loading trains to help with the family finances. He attended Salem High School. He later went on to Pomona College in Pomona, California as a physics major and graduated with honors in 1956.

After graduating, he came to work for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) the same year. He completed his post graduate work concurrently at University of California, Berkeley. He had a notable career at LLNL. Among his achievements were some of the earliest work and theories on black holes and the gravitational fields of collapsing stars, which were subsequently proven accurate by the Supernova 1987A. After 40 years, he retired from LLNL in 1996. After retiring, he was featured in an episode of the PBS series "Nova" for his scientific work.

He is survived by his son, Kristofer (Tina), his daughter, Kim White Steele (Tom), his former wife, Carol, and his three grandsons, Thomas, Calvin and Max Steele. He was predeceased by his son, Mark and his sister, Betty. In lieu of flowers or donations, the family would simply ask that you help someone else less fortunate than yourself in his honor. The family will hold a small, private ceremony on the Trinity River to celebrate his life.