She was a Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter

LaVerne White Dornberger

April 12, 1921 ~ October 20, 2011

LaVerne was born in San Francisco on April 12, 1921 to Walter White and Frances (Willits) White, the youngest of four siblings.  She spent her childhood in California, living first at the Point Montara Lighthouse where Walter was assistant lighthouse keeper, and then, in 1927, the family moved to Point Hueneme Lighthouse where Walter was the lighthouse keeper. She graduated from Oxnard High School.  LaVerne met her husband Lambert (Bert) Dornberger while he was attending the U.S. Maritime Service Officer Training School in Port. Hueneme, California; they married on October 25, 1942. In 1948, after living a short while in Seattle and then on the Olympic Peninsula, they moved to Vashon Island.  (Her mother and father moved to the Island that same year, following Walter’s retirement from the U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouse Service; Frances passed away in 1958, Walter in 1968.)  Bert and LaVerne moved to their present home in 1949, where they raised their three daughters and where she continued to live after her retirement from the Washington State Ferry System in 1983.

Always a great lover of all animals, she became involved with horses in the mid 1950’s.  At the time of her passing, she owned six miniature horses which she cared for daily. On nice days she could be found in her garden or in the barn.  She was an avid reader.  Her strength, humor, energy and independence made her an inspiration to friends and family.

We are thankful for LaVerne’s long and active life and it is with sad hearts that we announce her passing on October 20, 2011 at 90 years of age.  She was predeceased by her husband Bert in 1967 and her daughter Marit Hansen in 2005.  She is survived by her daughters Betty Westby and Dian Murrell, grandchildren Shauna Jackson, Marcene Pea, Kelly Jackson, Roger Westby, Seven Graylands and Shelli Auclair, as well as twelve great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

There is no service by request but an informal remembrance gathering will be held in the family home on Saturday, October 29 from 1 to 3 pm.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the American Heart Association.

Paid Obituary.