Former River Oaks CEO Darryl Sue Morais White succumbs to cancer

DARRYL SUE MORAIS WHITE,  a New Orleans native and the former CEO and director of nursing at River Oaks Psychiatric Hospital, passed away on April 5, 2016, after an epic eight-year battle with cancer. She was 71.

White was described by all who knew her as a tireless worker and a woman who enjoyed many varied shared activities such as enjoying games of Mah Jongg and libations with friends, traveling, but most especially being with her family and specifically with her grandchildren.  She was marked by a positive spirit, a sharp wit and an enviable capacity to live life to its fullest.

A graduate of Isidore Newman School, White attended Washington University in St. Louis, where she met art student Leonard Louis White on a blind date. After a brief courtship, the two were married in New Orleans in September of 1965 in a candlelight ceremony necessitated by a lack of power following the passage and destruction of Hurricane Betsy.

After years as director of nursing, she became CEO at River Oaks Hospital for 18 years, retiring in 2004.  It was the next year that another major hurricane, Katrina, uprooted her family from their Uptown home. The Whites moved to Covington, where she enjoyed her retirement to the fullest, hosting river-view front
porch gatherings with neighbors and becoming active in the Northshore community. She became a member of several Mah Jongg groups, a knitting club and affiliated with the Northshore Jewish Congregation.

White’s struggle to fight cancer was one she ultimately shared with her daughter, Ashley Morais White-Samuels. The Whites purchased a second home in Savannah to be near their daughter and spent a considerable time there while their daughter waged her own battle with ovarian cancer. White gave her daughter the inspirational message to never allow her illness to get in the way of enjoying life; she died in 2013.

Preceded in death by her daughter, White is survived by her husband of 50 years, Leonard Louis White; her son Jason Aaron White (Christine), her son-in-law Scott Samuels; her brother Lee Morais (Nancy) and three grandchildren.

Graveside services were held on Friday, April 8 at 1:00 p.m. at Hebrew Rest Cemetery No. 3 Mausoleum, 2100 Pelopidas Street at Frenchmen Street.  Cantor David Mintz officiated. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Ashley Samuels Children’s and Youth Activity Fund or the New Orleans JCC Capital Campaign.

Arrangements were under the direction of Tharp-Sontheimer-Tharp Funeral Home of Metairie.