Jean White Byrne

Six of her direct line ancestors sailed aboard the Mayflower from England and arrived in the New World in 1620 to found Plymouth Colony. Jean Currier White, born September 26, 1919, was the oldest of Donald and Ruth White’s five children of Wakefield, Massachusetts. The young family survived the Great Depression easier than some. Her father was a teacher and botanist. They lived on a small farm, which produced needed food. Those lean years inflicted a sense of frugality that remained with her throughout her lifetime. The White Farm bordered a small lake where the children swam and boated in warm weather. Some Sundays, their mother packed a lunch and the family drove to the beach at Lynn where they played in the ocean before going to their grandparents house there for Sunday dinner. Summers, the family traveled to Maine, where they enjoyed the rocky coast while staying in Uncle Walter White’s house. In the winter, they often skied to get around. If the skis sank in the snow, they put on snow shoes.

Jean decided to go to Maryville College in Tennessee because the co-chair of the biology department was Wakefield native. Arriving in 1937, Jean soon met a tall, quiet, red-headed young man from Middle Tennessee. His name was Arthur Byrne. They were soon inseparable. They both graduated from Maryville College. He then completed a J.D. Degree from UT College of Law. In September 1942, they traveled to Massachusetts with one of Art’s sisters and his best friend. They married in Wakefield on our mother’s birthday. Her Uncle Bertram Southwick drove them to Gloucester, which was in a mandatory blackout, to honeymoon in his cabin. They watched the U.S. Coast Guard maneuvering in water where German submarines patrolled.

Months after returning to Knoxville, our dad volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Force and disappeared in the South Pacific during WWII. To fill the four-year void, our mother went to work at the Frontier Nursing Service, located in the remote mountains of Eastern Kentucky. When her “new” husband returned from the service in 1946, he started his law practice with an established Knoxville firm and she settled into the city where they would spend their next 61 years. In 1952, their first daughter, Jean Laurie, arrived, and in 1953, a second daughter, Ann Terrell, was born to complete their family. The couple soon bought a vacation house on Panama City Beach, which brought weeks of delight over the years. Summers Jean took the girls to Massachusetts in the late 50s and early 60s. Part of the time was spent at her parent’s cottage on the coast enjoying, among other things, clam bakes.

When Jean was 10, she joined the Girls Scouts and remained a Girl Scout for life. She served a variety of roles in Tanasi Girl Scout Council, including trainer of leaders, trainer of trainers, troop leader, and Council First Vice President. She served on Holston United Methodist Conference committees and councils over the years; was long active in the League of Women Voters; participated in the Knoxville Business and Professional Women’s Club; ;a Knoxville Fine Arts Council board member; Knoxville Symphony Guild member; and a Knoxville Bar Auxiliary member. She enjoyed needle work and knitting. Collected stamps and dolls from around the world. She was a vocal supporter at Lady Vol basketball games over the years and a Boost-Her Club member. She enjoyed playing league tennis and she walked most days. Jean and Art traveled over the U.S. and to Mexico and Canada, around the British Isles, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, and Russia.
Predeceased by husband of 65 years, Arthur D. Byrne, Knoxville/Maryville, Donald and Ruth White, Wakefield, Mass., sisters, Carol Latorraca, Wauwatosa, Wis.,Ruth Maynard, Colchester, Conn., brothers, Robert S. White, Munroe Falls, Ohio, Edson F. White, Cooperstown, N.Y., sisters-in-law, Ann Byrne Rosson, Knoxville, Beatrice Pearson White, Munroe Falls, Ohio, Virginia Pierce White, Cooperstown, N.Y., and brothers-in-law, Richard R. Rosson, Knoxville, David A. Laude, Modesto, Calif., Rocco Latorraca, Wauwatosa, Wis., and John Maynard, Uncasville, Conn. Survived by daughters Laurie Byrne, Maryville, Terry Byrne, Rochester, N.Y., sister-in-law, Betsy Byrne Laude, Boise, Idaho, and numerous nieces and nephews, including Martha Rosson, who provided invaluable assistance over the past few years.

Jean lived by the principle found in Matthew 25:40. “And the King replied,”Truly I tell you,whatever you did for the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” In lieu of flowers, please send online donations in memory of Jean W. Byrne to: Welcome Table at First United Methodist Church, Maryville, Tenn. or Frontier Nursing University, Versailles, Ky.

A memorial service will be held at Maryville First United Methodist Church Friday, July 23 at 4 p.m.