March 3, 1929 – October 26, 2021

Private interment will be at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Higginsville, MO.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 7:00 pm, Wednesday, November 10^th, at Walnut Gardens Community of Christ, 19201 East RD Mize Rd, Independence, MO 64057.  A visitation will be held from 5:30-7:00 pm preceding the service. Masks are required.

Donations in his memory may be made to the Boy Scout troop where Jason’s son is the scoutmaster and his son-in-law a former scoutmaster in the heart of uptown Independence.  Checks can be made out to Troop 223 and mailed to Stone Church Community of Christ, 1012 W. Lexington Ave, Independence, MO 64050.

Our father wanted his obituary to read, “Jason White. Dead. Preceded in death by millions. Survived by millions more.” So, there is it.  But we’re going to say more….

Born in Independence, Missouri, Jason was raised in a house that was originally a traders’ cabin onto which Smallwood Noland added a brick home in the 1840s.  Jason’s grandfather bought the home in 1898 and the White family has lived in it ever since.  Because he was from a long line of Jason Whites with only their middle names different, for much of his life he went by J.T. White.   J.T. graduated from the old William Chrisman High School. J.T. joined the Boy Scouts as a young boy in Independence and was involved throughout his life.  He earned the highest rank of Eagle Scout.  J.T. served on camp staff while in high school during World War II and the men were gone to war, and again during his retirement.  He served as Scoutmaster at different troops, and even last year was still helping his son’s troop when he could.  He was the recipient of the District Award of Merit and the Silver Beaver award for distinguished service to youth, and was a Medicine Man in the honorary tribe of Mic-O-Say. He met the love of his life, a young nurse from Iowa named Lois LaVonne Moser, and married her on February 28, 1952.  They would have been married 70 years this coming February.  He still called her “his bride.” Jason had already been drafted into the Army to enter the Korean War before their wedding, and he was sent overseas soon after their marriage.  He was assigned to a newly-established unit responsible for embalming, processing, and shipping home the bodies of military personnel killed in action in Korea.  Because soldiers had always been buried on foreign soil, it was the first such undertaking in American history. After he returned from the war, Jason worked for several years at the Ott and Mitchell funeral home as a funeral director. At the same time, and for many years afterward, he was a professional photographer not only shooting wedding photos, but beautiful nature works and historical works—particularly of Harry Truman’s actions in Independence.  His usually-unaccredited photos were not only shown in Independence, but in the Kansas City area newspapers and TV news channels, as well as national news outlets and magazines such as Life. One of his famous photos is of Truman standing in the foyer of the new Truman Presidential Library looking up at Thomas Hart Benton as he painted from high on scaffolding. Jason and Lois were wonderful parents to two children, Eileen and Jason.  They were encouraging, supportive, and loving.  One year they took a six-week camping trip in a pop-up trailer through the western part of Canada and the United States. In 1973, Jason was hired to plan, staff, equip, and supervise the first Independence Police Department Crime Lab.  He took training courses all over the country, and was part of the arson squad, bomb squad, and Kansas City area Metro Squad.  He also spent several years as a bank officer for the Blue Ridge Bank and Trust. He retired in 1989. 

Jason enjoyed wood working. He made many elaborate small objects such as bowls and doll cradles for his great-granddaughters, as well as larger works such as beautiful kitchen cabinets for his daughter and matching hand-made coffins made of cherry wood for Lois and him. He and Lois enjoyed their retirement years, spending them volunteering at Powell Gardens and the Chicago and Alton Train Depot, traveling, enjoying friends and family, and sitting on the spacious front porch of their home chatting with the neighbors and waving to people passing by. Jason lovingly cared for Lois for several years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. 

Jason was preceded in death by his parents, Jason C. White, Jr. and Berenice M. Tidswell White.

He is survived by his spouse Lois L. White, daughter Eileen Terril (Jim) of Blue Springs, MO; son Jason T. White (Joyce) of Independence, MO; grandsons Chris Ketcherside (Andrea), Sean Ketcherside (Kate), Jason Tyler White (Jessi Hicks), and Jay Terril (Pam); and great-grandchildren Grayson, Carlyn, Ryann, Brier, River, and Dallis Ketcherside, and Rhiannon and Julia Terril.

Arrangements:  Royer’s New Salem Funeral Home, Independence, MO   816-796-8600