Father James J. White, SJ, died Feb. 12, 2025, in Kansas City, Kansas. He was 87 years old, a Jesuit for 62 years and a priest for 53 years.
He will be remembered in a Mass of Christian Burial at Holy Trinity Church (13615 West 92nd Street, Lenexa, Kansas 66215) on Saturday, February 22, at 10:30 a.m., with a visitation from 9:30-10:15 and rosary at 10:15. He will be buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery (St. Mary’s Jesuit Mission Cemetery) in St. Marys, Kansas, at 3:00 p.m. the same day.
James Joseph White was born Dec. 24, 1937, the youngest of John F. and Agnes Triska White’s seven children. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by brother John F. White, Jr., and four sisters, Patricia Massieon, Jacquie Kelly, Mary Ellen Benedict and Honor White Lew. He is survived by his brother Fr. Robert A. White, SJ, a Jesuit of USA Central and Southern Province, as well as many cousins, nieces and nephews.
He graduated from Rockhurst College, now Rockhurst University, in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in education. After being drafted and serving in the U.S. Army in Vietnam for a year (1960-61), he taught grade school while attending night school at Kansas State University for a year before entering the Society of Jesus at St. Stanislaus Seminary on Sept. 1, 1962. He pronounced first vows on Sept. 2, 1964. He was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of St. Louis on June 3, 1971, and professed final vows on June 6, 1981, at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri.
Father White began his Jesuit ministry at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri, where he taught art and English from 1972 through 1989. While there, he also started a retreat program. He became renowned for his pottery, mostly ceramics, such as vases, tea sets, cookie jars, and even patens and chalices for newly ordained Jesuits.
After a sabbatical, he studied applied theology and spirituality at Gonzaga College in Spokane (1990-92), followed by a program in spiritual direction at the Guelph Centre of Spirituality in Ontario (1992-93), where he made the Spiritual Exercises for the third time and learned to give them to others. These credentials served him well as he entered a new phase of his life, when he served as director of spiritual development for priests in the Diocese of Dodge City, Kansas (1993-95), and then ministered to priests in the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas (1995-2010).
Finally, from 2010 to 2025, Fr. White served in pastoral ministry for the Archdiocese of Kansas City by continuing to offer spiritual direction to priests and celebrating the sacraments in various parishes. During his last 30 years he lived a simple life in a rustic one-story farmhouse, without internet access, computer, television, dishwasher, dryer or even a typewriter. He spent his days gardening, crafting pottery and raising chickens on 20 acres in a rural corner of the metro area.
On the occasion of his 50th jubilee as a priest, in 2021, Fr. White attributed his vocation to “consolation without cause,” when one day in church he quite unexpectedly received an invitation from God to become a priest. His immediate response was “yes.” After 50 years as a priest, he said that his most important accomplishment was “to grow in intimacy with Jesus.”
Father White earned both a Master of Arts in education and a theology degree at Saint Louis University and attended the Memphis Academy of Art.
We remember with gratitude all that God has done through his life of service to God and God’s people.
Memorial gifts may be made to the USA Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus at 4511 West Pine Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108.