Elizabeth “Betty” Jacoba Kloosterboer White died in her sleep on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009, from complications from pneumonia. She is survived by her children and their spouses: Bill and Sylvia White of Middleton, Idaho; Jennifer White of Beaverton, Ore., and Sue and Steve Swope of Vashon Island, her sister Blanche Murray of Floral City, Fla., her grandchildren Julian Kongslie, Laura and Scott Anderson, Chrissy and Matt Swope, Lucas White and great-granddaughter Riley Anderson.

She was preceded in death by her husband Rex White, an infant son, Rex, and grandson Danny White.

White was born in Tientsin, China, on Feb. 7, 1926, to Jan and Henriette Kloosterboer. Her parents and their families had lived in Holland, South Africa and Australia before her parents settled in China.

White, her sister Blanche and mother Hetty survived together several years in the Weishein Concentration Camp during World War II, but her civilian father died in a Java concentration camp before the war ended.

White married Rex White in January 1947 on the national Bride and Groom radio program.

Together, they raised three children, living in Oklahoma, California, North Carolina and Virginia while Rex served as an officer and finally settling in Pocatello, Idaho, for his second career as a librarian for Idaho State University.

There, White earned her bachelor’s degree in English and later a master’s degree in English from Idaho State University.

Rex died in 1984, and White relocated after her husband’s death to Vashon Island in 1996.

On Vashon, she enjoyed building her new home where she enjoyed gardening. White was actively involved as a member of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit.

A celebration of White’s life will be held at the Church of the Holy Spirit on Vashon at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17.