U-46 mourns former principal

William R. “Bill” White, an Elgin resident who spent his career in Elgin Area School Distict U-46, died Saturday at the age of 70 after a battle with cancer.

Bill's daughter, Colleen White, principal of Cumberland Elementary School in Des Plaines, said she didn't have to look far for professional inspiration while growing up.

“He's why I got into education. I am who I am because of my father,” Colleen White said Sunday.

White served a number of schools during his 24 years as an administrator in U-46 — a district that his daughter says he loved with a passion — before retiring in 2000. He was an assistant principal at Ellis Middle School in Elgin, and principal at Ridge Circle and Fox Meadow elementary schools.

His experience at Fox Meadow was a special one, because he helped open that South Elgin school in 1996, Colleen White said.

“It had been one of his dreams to kind of build a staff and a school from the ground up, and he got his chance,” she said. “That was very important to him.”

Even after retiring, Bill White didn't hesitate to help out when the school district asked. He served as an interim principal at Horizon Elementary School in Hanover Park and then at Willard Elementary School in South Elgin when the need arose, Colleen White said.

“He always jumped at the chance to help the children in U-46,” she said. “He was intensely loyal to that school district. He loved U-46.”

Colleen White said she has tried to emulate many of her father's traits in her own work as an administrator, the key trait being his love of children.

“I know a lot of teachers and administrators say that what they do is all about the children but for him it really was true,” she said. “He truly put children first in everything he did.”

White treasures the fact that she got a chance to work in the same district as her father for a short time. Before taking the principal's job at Cumberland, White was principal of Washington Elementary School in Elgin.

“His last year in U-46 was my first,” she said. “So I had the wonderful experience then of working in the same district with him.”

In addition to his daughter, Bill White is survived by his wife, Judy, and his mother, Rose, along with other relatives.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, at Laird Funeral Home, 310 S. State St., Elgin. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, at the First Baptist Church of LaSalle, Ill. For information, call Laird at (847) 741-8800.