Home
Obit
Charlie White was born on July 7, 1925 and died on January 29, 2010.
The following obituary appeared on January 30, 2010.
Charlie White is survived by his devoted wife of 22 years, Darlene and sons; Chad, Kevin (Leslie), David (Karen), step-son Jay (Theresa), step-daughter Brandy, as well as grandchildren Emily, Celia, Tesja, Zachary, Kai, Simone, Justine, Rhea and Courtney. He is pre-deceased by his brother, Gordie (Laverne).
----
A sports-fishing guru who co-founded CHEK television and CFAX radio
stations died yesterday morning after suffering a massive stroke last month.
Charlie White, 83, suffered the stroke while travelling to Hawaii on Dec. 14, said Darlene, Charlie's wife of 22 years.
He and Darlene flew home by private jet earlier this week. White died peacefully, surrounded by his family, early yesterday morning at Saanich
Peninsula Hospital.
"In a way it was a blessing," said Darlene. "He was such a vital guy and
he loved life."
"He said often that he's had a wonderful life, and it's true. He also
used to say that you regret the things that you don't do, so he didn't
have very many regrets."
An inventor, filmmaker and entrepreneur, White earned a civil
engineering degree at Cornell University before serving in the navy
during the Second World War, then going to work in water and sewage
treatment.
He later moved to Oregon so he could fish the unpolluted lakes and
streams. When he and his first wife Anne married, they came to Victoria
for their honeymoon and White fell in love again, this time with the city.
The couple moved here in 1956 and White applied for a broadcasting
licence to set up a television station, as he had done in the U.S. earlier.
Bob Wright, owner of Oak Bay Marine Group, said yesterday that he and
White started out as competitors and ended up as friends.
They met in the late 1950s, after White and Art Phillips co-founded CHEK
television and CFAX radio stations.
"[White] started out with Pacific Undersea Gardens at the Oak Bay Marina
and we ended up as competitors when I brought in Sealand," said Wright.
After five years, White moved the gardens to the Inner Harbour. Today,
Sealand is gone and Wright owns the Undersea Gardens.
One day, Wright recalls, White accompanied him on a fishing trip to Port Alberni.
"With me he got his first two big salmon," said Wright. "That triggered
him and away he went. He was really hooked."
White was "absolutely fantastic" as a fishing-gear inventor, said Wright. One of those inventions, the Scotty downrigger, became a staple piece of equipment on Wright's sportfishing boats.
Son Chad calls his dad an inspiration: "He inspired us that we could be
anything that we wanted to be as long as we put in that 110 per cent and
a lot of emphasis on doing what you love."
White excelled at promoting his wares and had a television series called
Charlie White's Underwater World. "He was always attracted to show biz and entertaining," said Darlene.
"He loved to get his face in front of the cameras. He was on TV and radio a lot."
Chad says his father was an entrepreneur who was able to put into effect "wild ideas" -- such as making ice-cream out of a three-bedroom
apartment in Portland.
"They made it in the back bedroom," said Chad. "People would call in for
an order and he'd go, 'Can you hold for a second? I'll put you onto production.'
"One of his roommates would come to the phone and say, 'Production! How can we help you?'"
Another wild idea turned into the Undersea Gardens, and as a youngster,
Chad played a pivotal role in testing out the concept.
"He built a little test tube first. I remember crawling down this little
ladder. It was an overgrown vertical pipe that had a little net at the
bottom with some fish.
"He also had us selling his fishing boats on the docks when we were on
fishing trips. We knew the whole sales pitch."
Gerry Kristianson, a member of the Pacific Salmon Commission, moved to
the coast in 1973 after being in the foreign service. The first thing he
wanted to do was get fishing, and he says most of what he learned in
those early days was by reading White's books.
"He was also the guy who attached a camera to a lure -- and for all of
us ardent fishermen, this was a chance to get the fish's view of things.
"When you think of thousands of Victoria anglers who've sat in their
boats, staring at those lines in the water and wondering what the devil
is going on down below, suddenly we had some sense of that."
Victoria cartoonist Nelson Dewey collaborated with White on 20 to 30 books.
"Another project we worked on was called Son of Hibachi -- he invented a
little fold-up barbecue.
"He had an imagination that just went everywhere."
The Whites donated $600,000 toward construction of the Mary Winspear
Centre in Sidney. The town has named its performance hall the Charlie
White Theatre.
Besides Darlene and Chad, White is survived by sons Kevin and David;
former wife Anne; and stepchildren Jay and Brandy. He also has nine
grandchildren.
-- Sandra McCulloch, Times Colonist, January 30, 2010
The following obituary appeared on January 30, 2010.
Charlie White is survived by his devoted wife of 22 years, Darlene and sons; Chad, Kevin (Leslie), David (Karen), step-son Jay (Theresa), step-daughter Brandy, as well as grandchildren Emily, Celia, Tesja, Zachary, Kai, Simone, Justine, Rhea and Courtney. He is pre-deceased by his brother, Gordie (Laverne).
----
A sports-fishing guru who co-founded CHEK television and CFAX radio
stations died yesterday morning after suffering a massive stroke last month.
Charlie White, 83, suffered the stroke while travelling to Hawaii on Dec. 14, said Darlene, Charlie's wife of 22 years.
He and Darlene flew home by private jet earlier this week. White died peacefully, surrounded by his family, early yesterday morning at Saanich
Peninsula Hospital.
"In a way it was a blessing," said Darlene. "He was such a vital guy and
he loved life."
"He said often that he's had a wonderful life, and it's true. He also
used to say that you regret the things that you don't do, so he didn't
have very many regrets."
An inventor, filmmaker and entrepreneur, White earned a civil
engineering degree at Cornell University before serving in the navy
during the Second World War, then going to work in water and sewage
treatment.
He later moved to Oregon so he could fish the unpolluted lakes and
streams. When he and his first wife Anne married, they came to Victoria
for their honeymoon and White fell in love again, this time with the city.
The couple moved here in 1956 and White applied for a broadcasting
licence to set up a television station, as he had done in the U.S. earlier.
Bob Wright, owner of Oak Bay Marine Group, said yesterday that he and
White started out as competitors and ended up as friends.
They met in the late 1950s, after White and Art Phillips co-founded CHEK
television and CFAX radio stations.
"[White] started out with Pacific Undersea Gardens at the Oak Bay Marina
and we ended up as competitors when I brought in Sealand," said Wright.
After five years, White moved the gardens to the Inner Harbour. Today,
Sealand is gone and Wright owns the Undersea Gardens.
One day, Wright recalls, White accompanied him on a fishing trip to Port Alberni.
"With me he got his first two big salmon," said Wright. "That triggered
him and away he went. He was really hooked."
White was "absolutely fantastic" as a fishing-gear inventor, said Wright. One of those inventions, the Scotty downrigger, became a staple piece of equipment on Wright's sportfishing boats.
Son Chad calls his dad an inspiration: "He inspired us that we could be
anything that we wanted to be as long as we put in that 110 per cent and
a lot of emphasis on doing what you love."
White excelled at promoting his wares and had a television series called
Charlie White's Underwater World. "He was always attracted to show biz and entertaining," said Darlene.
"He loved to get his face in front of the cameras. He was on TV and radio a lot."
Chad says his father was an entrepreneur who was able to put into effect "wild ideas" -- such as making ice-cream out of a three-bedroom
apartment in Portland.
"They made it in the back bedroom," said Chad. "People would call in for
an order and he'd go, 'Can you hold for a second? I'll put you onto production.'
"One of his roommates would come to the phone and say, 'Production! How can we help you?'"
Another wild idea turned into the Undersea Gardens, and as a youngster,
Chad played a pivotal role in testing out the concept.
"He built a little test tube first. I remember crawling down this little
ladder. It was an overgrown vertical pipe that had a little net at the
bottom with some fish.
"He also had us selling his fishing boats on the docks when we were on
fishing trips. We knew the whole sales pitch."
Gerry Kristianson, a member of the Pacific Salmon Commission, moved to
the coast in 1973 after being in the foreign service. The first thing he
wanted to do was get fishing, and he says most of what he learned in
those early days was by reading White's books.
"He was also the guy who attached a camera to a lure -- and for all of
us ardent fishermen, this was a chance to get the fish's view of things.
"When you think of thousands of Victoria anglers who've sat in their
boats, staring at those lines in the water and wondering what the devil
is going on down below, suddenly we had some sense of that."
Victoria cartoonist Nelson Dewey collaborated with White on 20 to 30 books.
"Another project we worked on was called Son of Hibachi -- he invented a
little fold-up barbecue.
"He had an imagination that just went everywhere."
The Whites donated $600,000 toward construction of the Mary Winspear
Centre in Sidney. The town has named its performance hall the Charlie
White Theatre.
Besides Darlene and Chad, White is survived by sons Kevin and David;
former wife Anne; and stepchildren Jay and Brandy. He also has nine
grandchildren.
-- Sandra McCulloch, Times Colonist, January 30, 2010
Submitted on February 17, 2010 in By David.
