Duggans Mission Chapel
Harry Gregory White, age 90, passed away on October 21st in Sonoma, California.
A veteran of both WWII and the Korean War, Harry was responsible for electronics and communications on his ships. A lifelong water lover, he was the Atlantic Fleet Swimming Champion and competed in the All Navy Championships in San Diego. He attended Newark College of Engineering, and accepted a job in the Solid State Physics Department at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J. Harry met Catherine Donnelly at a dance and were married in 1955, a love that would last for 61 years until her death in 2016. Survived by three children, Gregory White, Eileen Cosgrove, and Kathleen Weinstein, and six grandchildren, Steven and Kristin White, Kevin and Brian Cosgrove, and Jack and Hailey Weinstein. and two doting son-in-laws, Paul Weinstein and Chris Cosgrove.
Harry was an exceptional experimentalist, and with colleague Ralph Logan, they received the patents for the Red and Green LED's. An approximated 200,000 jobs were created in the next two decades utilizing this new technology. He helped advance and develop both the vapor deposition and liquid phase epitaxy technologies used today, ending his career making lasers for the new fiber optic cables being developed for information relay which are used on a daily basis today.
Harry retired at 60 and spent the next 30 years volunteering as an EMT and an ambulance driver. He spent nearly 5,000 hours as an ER and Cancer ward volunteer at Morristown Medical Center where he his love of books helped him create a book cart that has given away over 20,000 books in the last 20 years. Upon moving to Sonoma, California to live with his daughter, Kathleen, he created a second book cart at the Sonoma Valley Hospital. He gave equally to his family, caring for grandchildren every day in New Jersey, and then in Sonoma. He loved his wife unconditionally. He was beloved by all who met him, making them all feel better after spending time with him. His favorite sayings were, "No one feels the pain but you," "It is what it is" and "There's nothing like a hug." Harry was a helluva nice guy. Funeral arrangements are pending.
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